Fade
by Pandora Angel Alice
Summary: There's something achingly familiar about Ichigo Kurosaki. At least, that's what high school senior Rukia Kuchiki thinks. Drawn to him like the deadliest of sins, she wonders if fate will be kind enough to let her out alive. IchiRuki
1. Prologue

**Full summary:** _Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki._

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**(This takes place long before Rukia and Ichigo's timeline. You'll find out more about it later.)**

**---------**

**Breathe**

**Prologue**

_**London, England  
December 12**__**th**__**, 1842**_

Her death cannot be avoided.

His colleague's sad voice rings through his head, haunting him. He sketches her, not the person who he's thinking of, but _her_, the raven haired woman who haunts his dreams, who makes him remember everything. The tears, the pain, the bitter goodbyes.

"Where'd she go?" _Her_ voice rings clear in the room, over the crackling fire. He looks at her. She's wearing the dress her sister had bought her, black silk ribbons matching it tied into complicated weaves around her hands.

He stiffens. "Who?" He's wearing his usual work wear, a duster thrown on over it.

She laughs. A bittersweet sound to his ears. "Why, your fiancée. Or whoever you're courting," He isn't _courting_ anyone. But she doesn't know that. She believes that he's so handsome, so wonderful, and so nice that anyone would be crazy _not_ to love him.

"I'm not," He says, and she's shocked.

"Oh, I thought you liked her, at the very least. You know, that woman you're always with." Her voice lowers, like she's jealous. She is. But she has yet to discover their true relationship, him and this unnamed woman.

He nearly chokes on air. They aren't lovers, they aren't engaged. He wants to tell her that, but cannot come to do so. She's a friend, a comrade at best. She will never be anything more. "No," He says nonchalantly. "She doesn't like me like that." He gives no hint that the feeling is mutual, so maybe she'd leave.

She doesn't.

"I know you," She says quietly, sitting down next to him. Four weeks, she's known him. A little less than four weeks, and it's already falling apart. When he found her, he felt the strangest sensation of love and worried thoughts plagued his mind. "Before last month, I knew you."

"No," He says sternly, getting up from the green velvet chair, subsequently leaving behind his sketchbook. He refuses to believe anything she says; he just wants all of this to be one bad dream.

"You draw?" She sounds amused. Before he can take the leather-bound book, she's already looking through it, past beautifully hand drawn sketches of trees, birds, and the huskies his father owned. She stops when she reaches the latest sketch, a half finished version of herself.

She gasps lightly, touching the thick paper. He's got her down to the point, like he's known her for years, like he's been able to memorize her face in his mind, so she wouldn't need to stand in front of him, posing.

"This… oh, it's beautiful, I—"

But he's taken the book back, cutting her off. His face is set, passive. She doesn't know what's going on, and he's beginning to think she never will.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," He hears the half snarl, half choke in his voice, and sighs. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," She's blissfully unaware, he realizes with a small glare. She keeps opening and closing her mouth, like she's contemplating on telling him something. She closes her eyes before sighing. "I've known you, not even a month. But I have to say, I love—"

"Don't you dare," His voice is rushed, harsh, but not unkind. It's an odd emotion. Like he wants to hear it, wants to hear her scream it, but can't bear the aftermath.

"I love you," She says anyway, determination in her liquid blue eyes. "I don't know why—I don't know _how_, even, all I know is I love you."

"You _can't_ love," He insists, hands on her shoulders.

He feels a shiver run through her blood. "Why can't I? Are you going to tell me," She began, "that this isn't right? That you can't _feel _this?" She raises her hands to cup his cheek tenderly. Like she always used to do.

He can't help it; he kisses her angrily. All the emotions, all the pent-up emotions that had been building up since he's seen her last let out, and he sighs happily. "I love you, too," He says, repeating the promises and oaths he made to her, almost fifty years before.

And she's eighteen, now.

How could this be? Even he doesn't know. He hopes this is all one big nightmare, and when he wakes up, she'll be lying next to him on their bed, human, married to him, living happily ever after.

Only that will never come to be.

He can already, faintly, feel her strength fading. She whimpers slightly, not from pleasure, but rather pain. She doesn't want to let go, though. He can feel the coldness of winter wrapping around them.

_This isn't supposed to happen,_ he thinks desperately. She finally goes limp in his arms, and he lets out a pained cry. Holds her tight, but relinquishes the kiss.

Her eyes are dull. She's still breathing, but her soul isn't there. It's gone. Lost, again.

He screams.

---------

**(Laughs nervously) Yeah… DON'T KILL ME.**

**Short, yeah. I know. Okay, so this was just an idea I had for the middle of the story flashback I MIGHT use. I might not, and put in a happier middle-y end. Or maybe I'll be cruel and sadistic and do this. Or maybe I'll be weirder than normal and make something else up on the spot. You'll see.**

**Okay, so goodbye, luv ya, and enjoy the next chapter!**

**~Tsuki**


	2. The Party, The Kuchiki, & the Death Wish

**Hey, hi! It's me, TMU, with **_**another **_**fic. Oh, and for the four and a half people who are **_**still**_** waiting on 'Guiding Light', I'm waiting for reviews. That's it. I'm not gonna keep writing if only two people are giving me props. Seriously, you guys are like my online counseling team! Well, you and my friend Ayu, but that's beside the point.**

**Anyways, here's my summary:**

Full summary: _Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki._

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**----------**

**Chapter one: The Party, the Kuchiki, and the Death Wish**

"_Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today."_

-James Dean

"How do ya like the party?"

"_What_?" I couldn't hear Renji over the blast of music.

"The _party_," He shouted, louder than before.

"Oh, wait… who's Marty?"

Renji smiled, shaking his head. "Never mind. Hey… have you seen Hisagi anywhere?" I heard him this time; he was right next to my ear. I looked up at Kenta, our host and the DJ as I answered him.

"Uhm… no. He must be 'round here with Rangiku somewhere…" I murmured, and I know he couldn't hear me. "I'm going to the bathroom!" I yelled, and he nodded. He probably didn't have a clue to what I was just saying, but whatever. He'd figure it out eventually.

"_Rukia…_" An eerily haunting voice whispered my name, and I turned around swiftly. No one. I huffed, knowing who it was.

"Hisagi!" I stomped my foot on the ground childishly, and I heard a scoff from behind me. I turned, glaring at Inoue Orihime, the always prim and proper bitch from my homeroom class.

As always, she pretended I wasn't there, and trashed me in front of her well-groomed wannabe's. "Oh yeah. Rukia Kuchiki's always been a little _odd_…" She cast me a sideways glance, flashing those pretty teeth. I wondered what they'd look like on the floor covered in blood.

"I'm a _little worried_, you know? She may go mental in a few years; I think that her parents might…"

I saw red. She knew the story about my parents, as did everyone from Our World. The vampires, the banshees, the shinigami, the hollows, everyone knew what happened to Natalia and Roka Kuchiki, and no one dared to speak about it.

I immediately stepped forward, and yanked the pretty red hair that'd won the hearts of so many men, and pinned her against the wall by her hair. No one but a few girls noticed; we were in a pretty secluded part of the house, and the music drowned out most of the whiny noises she was making.

"What did you say, _Inoue_?" My voice was pure venom, and Orihime whimpered under my gaze as I stared her down. I wanted to laugh; she was about three inches taller than me. "Huh? What was that? C'mon, I wanna hear what you had to say about them. I wanna hear you talk about my family. I wanna hear you talk about _me_, and what _I _went through. C'mon, tell your little cronies over there."

She stayed silent, her eyes fearful. She may have been a vampire, but she still feared me. She could bite me, drain me of blood, but I was always faster. Always _better_. I could split all the blood vessels in that pretty head of hers with one wail. Of course, I'd never risk getting arrested by Queen Alexandra's guards. I'd spotted a few on the terrace, probably there with Alexandra's granddaughter, Momo.

"Come on, don't be afraid. Tell me." I glared harder, until a hand on my shoulder stopped me from punching her homecoming queen lights out. No one else could see Hisagi at the moment, though. Thus the power of a Whisper. Half human, half spirit.

"You wouldn't kill me, would you?" She whimpered again, almost crying. I raised a brow.

"Maybe."

"You can't…" One of Orihime's best friends, Tatsuki, started. One of the few I actually almost-respected. "Rukia, that's an A class felony, you can't…"

I sighed, glaring at Orihime one last time. "I _know_." And I dropped her. She landed on her knees, not crying, but close enough to keep whimpering. Tatsuki and another girl were at her side in a flash, helping her up.

"She's a baby," I defended my actions to Hisagi when we were in a more private environment. He was finally visible to every other passerby. "I wouldn't of killed the vamp, I just wanted to… you know, _scare_ her a bit."

"Yeah, but how would _you_ feel if _you_ were scared?"

"I wouldn't be." I said simply. "I can't afford to be scared. Otherwise, I'll scream. And you know what happens when I scream."

"I think we _all_ do, Rukia."

"Mmhm, because you know… hold up, wait. Where's Ran?" Rangiku Matsumoto. My alcohol obsessed, well endowed, flirty, angel of a best friend. …No, I'm serious. She's really an angel. You know, a 'divine being'. But actually, she's flirty and sex crazy. Don't ask me how she got her position.

"I don't know. Since when have I kept track of that woman?" He looked at me incredulously, a silly smile on his face.

"Hm, point taken. Have you seen Renji?" Renji, my best friend since kindergarten. Another part of the 'Real World', he's also a banshee, and his family and my family had been best frienemies forever.

"Nah, not lately."

"Oh." I left it at that. We talked for a little longer, in Kenta's dad's library. No one was there, and it was far away from all the music. We could actually talk in piece.

"What's the matter?" I asked him, and he sighed. He'd been a little on edge, lately.

"Oh, it's just a few mortals. A car crash, last night. You didn't sense it?"

"N-no," I was shocked. I, as a banshee, had the power to cause deaths. It amazed me that Renji didn't tell me. "Is that normal?"

"Hmm?"

"That I couldn't sense it," I said, becoming a little uneasy. This never happened before.

"No, you probably did. But it was all the way up in Tokyo, so maybe it was so small it didn't register."

"Yeah, okay."

"Or maybe some other emotion last night clouded it over. Or, it could be that your powers are just now setting in."

"After all this time? I don't think so, but I'm open to the possibilities." I shrugged, and got up.

Hisagi gave me a once over. "You look good." He said with a grin.

I punched his arm. Flirt. No way would I look good in this. I was wearing an old _Nickelback _T-shirt I'd found in my sister's laundry, a PEACE, LOVE, AND HAPPINESS hoodie, graffiti printed Converse, and my old pair of gray paint-splattered skinny jeans.

"Shut up, no, I don't." I smiled, rolling my eyes. He was about to respond, when I heard a scream well over the talking, shouting, laughing, and music outside. "Shit," I breathed, and Hisagi and I ran out.

When we got to the area where I'd left Renji, we saw a crowd around someone. I ran up, and gasped when I saw that someone on the ground. She had pale blond hair, and wide jade eyes. She was beautiful, and tall, I noted with a small frown.

"Vampire," Someone breathed.

"Aria!" Another cried, and I recognized it as one of Orihime's friends, Evangeline Montenegro. Aria was her sister. She dropped down next to the dead girl, sobbing, face in her hands, speaking to Aria in a language that sounded foreign to me.

"Did you do this?" Renji asked in a quiet tone. Thank God no humans were around.

"No," I shook my head. "I barely knew Aria. Why would I want her dead? She's nice."

"Well, I didn't have anything to do with this. Hisagi? Do you know something?"

"No," He said slowly, staring hard at the vampire princess with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. I bent down, and stared hard at her eyes. I looked at her neck. No bite marks.

"Werewolf?" I guessed halfheartedly. No werewolf here tonight, and even if there was, there'd be clear evidence. Claw marks, a struggle, something. But there was nothing. Aria Montenegro just dropped down dead. I stared at her eyes for a long time. They were empty, soulless.

Evangeline looked at me. "What happened to her, Rukia?" Evangeline was actually a pretty good friend of mine, the only thing that Inoue and I had in common.

"I don't know," I admitted. Rangiku stepped forward, her strawberry blond hair swinging with every step she took. It was in a high ponytail, and she wore a white shirt that said 'ARMY ANGEL', gray skinny jeans, and heels.

"Nothing." She said, and I knew what she meant. Aria's soul hadn't been found. If it had, the shinigami would've notified Ran. And Ran would've told us. "Netherworld." She guessed, and Evangeline, along with everyone else in the room (including myself) shivered at the thought.

"No, Aria was the best. She wouldn't—" She stopped. "N-no, she couldn't! That's a place for… no, no, no. Maybe the reapers will find her, or…" The reapers. Like shinigami, but they worked for pay. They plucked wandering souls and let them join their little group.

Twelve hours of work, twelve hours of whatever. They didn't have to eat or sleep. The only downside was they couldn't fly, and they were visible to humans. But it didn't matter. If a reaper _did_ find Aria, her body would have disappeared. But it didn't.

I touched Aria's hand. Cold. Of course, a vamp's hand is always cold, but this was different. A vampire's touch was usually cold, but it was never this horrible, this _dead_. It made me shiver. It wasn't what usually radiated off of Aria. I'd known her; she had this bubbly personality that contrasted deeply with her sister's mother-like one.

"What happened?" A loud, demanding, authoritative voice rang through the large living area. Our heads swiveled to the door to the terrace. A woman, most likely in her mid thirties, stood menacingly, her hazel-brown eyes hard and trained on Aria's limp form. Oh, god. A Guardian. Half vamp, half human, all badass.

"We don't know." Surprisingly, the words came from Renji's mouth, and the rest of us just nodded in agreement.

"She just… _dropped_," Kenta half-murmured. Again, thank _god_ no humans were there. This would be a hell of a story to explain.

The woman glared at us, and walked forward. Her curly brown locks bounced with every step. "I'm Masaki Kurosaki," She said gruffly, and I smirked to myself. She seemed like the type of person I could learn to respect. She knelt down next to me, examining Aria. Evangeline had been smart and backed away.

"Rukia," I introduced myself like I had nothing better to do than be a little smartass. Which, by the way, I didn't. She looked at me sternly, but I think I saw something akin to humor flicker in her hazel eyes. She was amused. I rolled my own blue eyes, looking back down at Aria.

"Name?"

I looked at her, surprised, but quickly answered: "Aria Montenegro. Eighteen years old. Vampire." I stood up, straightening up my shirt.

"Christ," She breathed, and I knew she meant the Montenegro _family_. How would she explain to the head of one of the most powerful vampire clans in Our World that one of their twin daughters just _died_? Geez, she'd be in for an earful. I immediately felt bad for her.

"Okay," She murmured, looking over Aria. She motioned for another Guardian, a man about twenty five or so, to step forward. He had silvery-white hair, and scarlet eyes that were barely noticeable; his eyes were slanted. A whisper, like Hisagi, but a Guardian, nonetheless.

"Gin, look at this…"

"Soulless?" He asked. His voice held a slimy, snake-like quality as he looked into Aria's eyes. I felt a little overprotective all of a sudden, even though Aria was gone. There was something… not _right_ about this dude. I almost stepped in front of him, but caught myself.

"Soulless?" I questioned, and Masaki looked at me, her eyes clearly saying I should not have heard anything. The crowd had dispersed by now, leaving only Masaki, Gin, Renji, Rangiku, Hisagi, and myself. Evangeline was eyeing us by the TV. Everyone was leaving, despite all the excitement.

"Yes, Soulless." Masaki said, but stated nothing more. "Where's Momo?"

As if on cue, Princess Hinamori herself walked in, her serene smile plastered on her pretty face, as always; although this time it seemed a _bit_ more carefree. She looked high, quite honestly. "Hello, oh…" She looked at Aria, a mixture of surprise, shock, sadness, and queasiness lacing her features.

"W-what happened, here?" Her voice shook as she looked at Aria.

"Take her outta here," Masaki instructed Renji, who obliged. He led Momo outside, back on the terrace. She stumbled a little. Looks like while the Guardians were away, little Momo stayed and got a little drunk.

I shook my head.

Masaki looked at me once more, then Gin. "I'm calling for backup. Stay here," She instructed, standing up and going outside. Rangiku and Hisagi were long gone, now. They were talking to Evangeline, now. Just me and the creep. Oh, joy.

"Soulless," He said after a few moments, "Being Soulless is very rare. Hasn't happened in _centuries_. But lately, something's been happening. Something's been making teenagers, in particular, lose themselves in the Netherworld," He was still smiling.

I felt my heartbeat quicken with a little panic.

"Oh, yeah. They lose themselves entirely. Their souls disappear, and all chances of bein' reborn as a human or a reaper, or bein' a shinigami, are lost." He looked down at Aria like a scientist would bacteria. Full of wonder, and twisted excitement, like they were looking at an experiment.

Masaki walked in a few minutes later. "Queen Alexandra wants to see us, Gin. This Friday, eight o' clock." Ooh, now I really felt bad for these guys. They'd be shipped on a plane to Europe in no time. The wilderness of Spain, to be precise. Where, though, I never found out.

I'd give anything _not_ to be these guys.

--------------

**Er… okay, don't kill me, because some people might like it. Maybe. I don't know. I know, this is one weird story, but I'm not gonna bore you to death. If I don't get a decent amount of reviews, I'll just delete this and maybe spend some time doing original fiction or something.**

**So, yeah. Review nicely if you like it, give me constructive criticism if you thought it was okay, but flames are just rude. So… please don't.**

**-TMU**


	3. City Of Angels

**Hey, hi! It's me, TMU, with **_**another **_**fic. Oh, and for the four and a half people who are **_**still**_** waiting on 'Guiding Light', I'm waiting for reviews. That's it. I'm not gonna keep writing if only two people are giving me props. Seriously, you guys are like my online counseling team! Well, you and my friend Ayu, but that's beside the point.**

**Anyways, here's my summary:**

Full summary: _Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki._

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, all of the fantasy/vampire books I've ever read, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**Note(s): Byakuya is Rukia's BROTHER not her in law or anything. BYAKUYA AND HISANA ARE SIBLINGS, although neither of them will find any romance in this fic, except maybe flirting and some jealousy with an OC or two.**

**Ages: Rukia, Ichigo, Renji, Rangiku, Hisagi, and all of Rukia's classmates are 17-18.**

**Byakuya and Mitsuki: 26**

**Hisana: 24**

**And that's about it for main chara's. I'll tell you others if it's necessary.**

~*~*~*~*

**Chapter two:  
City of Angels**

**_But can you feel this magic in the air?  
Fell in love when I saw you standing there.  
Today was a fairytale._**

**-Taylor Swift's _Today was a Fairytale_**

**Rukia: **"Where were you?"

I winced when I heard Hisana's 'mom voice'. As much as I hated to admit it, it scared me. A lot.

"Nowhere," I lied. "I was at Kenta's."

"Kenta Asahi? You know his parents are out of town, right?"

"Really?" I half-squeaked. "I didn't know. His sister was there." Lena _was_ there. Why should I lie? "I thought his mom and dad were out on like a date or something." At this point, playing 'stupid, naïve teen' was my best option.

"You're a terrible liar," My sister spoke with a sigh. "Go, upstairs. You don't have school tomorrow, it's a Saturday. You're just lucky Byakuya wasn't here to bust you. He'd be much harder on you."

"Where _is_ Byakuya?"

"Meeting, with the Senior Partners."

"Ouch." I winced for my brother. The Senior Partners were a bunch of old people who told the _Queen_ what to do, believe it or not. Byakuya was a clan leader, so of course he had meetings with the geezers occasionally.

I dragged my feet up the stairs sluggishly, dreading Monday. Everyone would either be zombies, or seriously quiet. I'd be one of the seriously quiet ones, just waiting for this to blow over entirely.

I never would've guessed how drastically my life would change, come tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*

"Illyria?" One of Luna's pet owls, affectionately named Illyria, was perched at my windowsill and acted as my wake-up call that morning. Luna was Hisana's best friend, and a half-vampire Guardian.

It ruffled its dark feathers, blinking its beauteous yellow eyes. I stroked its silken feathers, mesmerized by the glossiness. "What's wrong?" I asked it, half-expecting her to answer. "Huh? What's the matter?" It jerked its head outside, to where it was barely dawn.

Tinges of pink and red and blue lit up the horizon of Karakura Town. Karakura was a little countryside town, and a good distance away from the bustling city of Tokyo. I liked it here. It was small and quiet, and very peaceful.

"Roo-key-ah!" I looked down, out my window, and saw Hisana, grinning like a maniac. "Sorry sissy, pack your bags."

I blinked.

"We're going to the City of Angels."

My eyes widened on their own accord, and I screeched, "We're going to L.A?"

~*~*~*~*

"_California?_"Rangiku's incredulous voice asked through the phone.

I nodded, slipping my favorite green and white shirt into my suitcase, along with my black skinny jeans, dark-washed Calvin Klein Capri's, my copy of _Wuthering Heights_ that Mr. Ukitake was forcing my class to read, another book, and slipped my iPod and phone in my pocket.

"Mmhm," I murmured angrily, "And I have _no idea why_. They're just shipping us out there for God knows why! And we won't even be in the city. It's in the forest, believe it or not." I put Ran on speaker, and continued packing.

"Oh, whoa. What, do you think it has something to do with Byakuya and the Seniors?"

"It's gotta be," I muttered, loud enough for her to hear. "But why would we need to go to the backwater, rural areas of California? Hisa told me we're going to Harrington's."

"H-Harrington's? As in Lisa Harrington Academy?" Her voice shook a little. "That top rated school for vampires and guardians in training? Holy shit, seriously? That's the Julliard for vamps!"

I shook my head, "Exactly. Do I look like a richy-rich vampiress to you?"

"No, but you are rich."

I rolled my eyes. "Not the point. I gotta go, but I'll call when I land in hell."

Rangiku giggled. "Mm'kay, talk to you later." She hung up. I put the telephone on my desk, and zipped up my suitcase. I slipped on my iPod, and sang along to _Slow Goodbye_. Lesley Roy's powerful voice echoed through my ears.

_Sitting in the park, after dark, smoking cigarettes  
Biting all the black off of my nails  
'Cause all I ever wanted was what you took away from me  
Try to make it right, but it's too late_

~*~*~*~*

"I'm not talking to you," I said bluntly when we landed at Harrington's private airport, about ten miles away from the school itself.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, stoic as fucking _ever_. "I know you don't want to be here, but it's for the utmost importance. And it's not like we could've left you in Japan."

"Sure you could," I whined, and looked around. Trees, and a car sent by the Guardians who would escort us to Harrington's. A woman stepped up, her violet hair pulled up into a spiky bun. She smiled chirpily.

"Hello, I'm Senna!" Her eyes were a dim shade of ocher, the color of a cobra's, but instead of looking evil and snake like, they looked sweet and doe-like. She looked about my age.

"Uh, hi." Student, no doubt. Instead of a Guardian's shadow-matching black shirt, pants, and gear, she wore a skirt, some cute (and probably very expensive) Emu boots, and a long sleeved blouse that was probably more for looks than keeping warm.

It was freezing out here; I couldn't understand how she could dress like that.

"I'm here to show you around, come with me! Oh, and Mr. and Ms. Kuchiki, the Headmistress' office is over that way!" She pointed to a large, castle-looking building that overlooked the dorms. "Cordelia can show you the way!" She jerked her head to her blonde friend, who was smiling at us from the car.

Senna grabbed my hand and led me away from Byakuya and Hisa, and to the main campus. It was filled to the brim with vampires, and novice Guardians. She spotted someone immediately, and ran after them. I followed obediently.

"Oh, hey! Liss, Ishida!" She called after the two students. One of them was a vampire, judging by his tall frame and gorgeous face, while the other was a novice, probably a Faerie by her deep, chestnut eyes and her beautiful, flawless appearance.

"This is Lesley Barlow and Uryu Ishida," She introduced them both with a grin. "Guys, this is Rukia Kuchiki. Byakuya Kuchiki's little sister."

Lesley (or Liss; was that what Senna called her?) was the first to speak up. Her voice sounded kind of southern. She had dark, black hair that reached the small of her back, and entrancing light brown eyes. As I looked closer, I realized she wasn't a Faerie at all. She was a Siren. Sirens are usually portrayed as evil, but they're like humans. Their attitudes and natures differ with each one. "Nice to meet you," She grinned.

"Nice to meet you, too." I had no idea why Senna was introducing me to her friends. Byakuya wasn't planning to send me here, was he?

Ishida spoke next. His voice was strong, and a little gruff. He sounded a little amused. "Hmph. Kurosaki won't be pleased when he finds out who his partner for this particular job is," He shook his head, and looked at me funnily. He had dark blueish black hair tied into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He had glasses that made him look very, _very_ adorable.

I blinked. "Wait, who's Kurosaki? And why were you looking at _me_ when you said 'partner'?" I remembered the surname from the guardian last night, but surely it couldn't be the same one, could it?

Senna only sighed, offered up a smile, and grabbed my hand again, motioning for Liss to follow.

"I'll tell you."

~*~*~*~*

"How do you like it? Senna's a nice girl, huh?" Hisana murmured when we were in the Headmistress' office. Headmistress Sophia Reid, the bitchy, overzealous leader of Harrington Academy.

"She's nice, yeah. And about the school… well, you better not try to send me here. It reminds me of the reform school mom tried to send me to when I was in junior high," I sent her a look that clearly said she'd better not plan anything.

Hisana shook her head. "No, no! We aren't going to send you here, sis. Calm down. But Miss Reid wants to talk to you." She ushered me forward, so I stood in the middle of Sophia's office.

"Miss Kuchiki," She started, her old, snobbish voice echoing slowly, "We've come to an understanding that you attended a party on February 9th, correct?"

"You mean yesterday? Mmhm." I nodded, and Hisana jerked her elbow towards me, her silent way of telling me to respect this crow-faced educator. What, is it a crime to have a party with my friends every once in a while? I rolled my eyes, and continued. "Yes, that is correct. And this is relevant… how, exactly?"

Sophia sighed, and stood, her pointy black high heels clicking loudly against the hardwood. She sat on her desk, in front of me, a serious look on her face. "Your friend, Aria Montenegro—" I flinched at the name, "died last night, correct?"

_Does she have to say it like that?_ I wondered briefly, before nodding. "Yeah. Two Guardians came, too. Um… Masaki and Gin, I think." I tried to remember their names as best I could. Sophia nodded to herself, a slight smile on her face.

"Yes, those two. Great Guards, they are." She shook her head. "But that's not the point. The point is you were there. You are a banshee. And as I recall, there are many others there who are also tied to the crossing, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, a lot. Some angels, a couple whispers, and a few more banshees." I counted off the people I knew, and a few I didn't. "A few reapers, too, I think."

Sophia nodded. "I see, and you were the _only_ banshee who touched the girl, right?"

"No," I said, "No, I didn't. I was just there. The only one who helped Evangeline, her sister, anyway. I didn't even know she was there. My friend and I were in another room entirely."

"Okay." She whispered something to a Guardian in the room, and he nodded and disappeared.

"You need to look at something for us… detective work, if you will."

Byakuya looked at me, and then nodded for me, and Sophia smiled and clapped her hands together. A big change to the bitchy, condescending woman I'd hated since I stepped into this god-forsaken office. "Good! I'll phone Isshin and Masaki straight away…"

I blinked, momentarily dumbfounded. Then…

"Wait, what am I gonna be doing?!"

~*~*~*~*

Okay, so lemme lay it down for you. So, to put it in short, Byakuya and Hisana sent me here to act as a fucking _detective_. Isn't this what the royal arms were for? I mean, the way Sophia described it, it all sounds too bizarre.

Okie-dokie, so, people are getting their souls whisked away to the Netherworld, by some unknown force. I have no idea what those sick, twisted people are thinking, sending an eighteen year old high school student to do something like this. She'd called me a 'Soul Screamer'. That's actually a term used in like, the 1800s, for banshees and whispers that acted as protectors for humans or shit like that.

But, you know fate just hates me. So now, I'm going to meet my partner tomorrow. Yeah, they gave me a _partner_, too. Masaki's son, apparently. Oh, fucking _Jesus_, just kill me now!

"I hate you guys, I hate you, hate you, hate yooouuuuuu!" I whined, stomping my feet on the ground childishly. Byakuya blatantly ignored me, floating past me elegantly.

"Quit that, Rukia. It's very unbecoming." I stared after him, my mouth ajar, incoherent words slipping from my tongue.

"Ugh! But you can't—oh, you guys can't just bring me a thousand miles from my happy small town life, and throw me into… into… into _this_, and I don't even know why I'm being thrown into this!"

"It's not our fault," Hisana defended, "Some dude named Ichimaru… Gin asked Mrs. Reid to send you over. Said something about 'true power' or something like that. He seemed very impressed with you."

"Gin? There was this creepy guy last night named Gin. But I barely talked to him… and I'm _not_ going to do this."

"It's too late, you accepted." Byakuya said sternly once we got into his Benz. Byakuya and Hisana were already inside, but I was still on the dirt road, my feet planted firmly on the dirty ground.

I scoffed, "Oh please! _You_ accepted for me! I didn't even know what was going on, you just nodded!" I started to walk away, no clue as to where I'd go.

"Where're you going?" I heard Hisana's voice from a distance.

"For a walk. Don't look for me! I'll be back at the hotel _later_."

Hisana sighed, and called to me from the car window. "Do you know where it is? Call us if—"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatevs." I waved her off, and kept walking.

Damn, was I pissed.

~*~*~*~*

I kicked a stone that lay in my path. "Stupid, this is so stupid! Why am _I _being forced into this, huh?" To any normal passerby, I would've looked like a total imbecile, just screaming out into the nothingness.

"I don't understand this. Why am _I_ being forced into this goddamned… ugh! I hate this so much! How do they expect me to do something I don't get _half_ of?"

"Tell me 'bout it."

I turned swiftly, glaring softly at whoever just spoke. A guy, who looked about eighteen or so stood, arms crossed, leaning against a tree. I could hear some sort of English-y type accent in his voice. His eyes were a calming sort of hazel. Like Senna's… but darker and more seductive.

I blinked twice as I took in the rest of his appearance. He had _orange hair_. It made me want to laugh. He was half-frowning, half-smirking. Don't ask me how you can do that, but he succeeded, most definitely.

"Um… hello," My voice was probably very unsure, very unaware. I took a step forward, and he pulled himself away from the tree.

"Yo," He drawled, "The name's Ichigo. And you are?"

Ichigo. His name, his looks… _everything_, seemed so achingly familiar. My eyebrows furrowed in wonder.

I took in his appearance a little more, and realized he was a half breed, a half vamp. You know how in movies, in books, the main guy character is always perfectly perfect, not counting one flaw? The cowlick, the beauty mark near his right eye, or maybe even something as simple as a crooked tooth. But this guy… Ichigo. There was nothing, save for that frown.

I spoke, and I'm sure there was a quiver in my voice. "The name's Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki."

"Kuchiki, huh?" He sounded amused, grateful, and maybe even a little worried. "Kuchiki Rukia, right? The new recruit from Japan, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well," He laughed, and it sounded like music to my ears. "Isn't that a surprise? I'm Ichigo _Kurosaki_."

Then, it dawned on me.

I sighed deeply. Blinked away the shock and confusion in my eyes. Forced a smile.

"I see. So, you're my… _partner_, for this case?"

"Mmhm. Afraid so, honey." His voice took on a sarcastic tone, and I glared at him. Barely four minutes of knowing this dude, and I already didn't like him.

"Well, isn't that just dandy?"

~*~*~*~*

"What's the matter?"

I turned around, my eyes shocked and wide. "Oh, god. Mitsuki! Don't do that!" I glared hard at my sister, slight rage building up in my veins.

Mitsuki's playful voice echoed in the small space of my hotel room. She rolled her big, gray-blue eyes, and said, "Geez, can't I just come over to spend time with my baby sister? New York's getting _boring_," She moaned childishly, leaning back on the hotel's desk chair. I rolled my eyes. Her raven black hair had grown since I'd seen her last. It draped down in perfect waves to the small of her back. Red rose petals were weaved through her hair as ornaments. She wore a black cocktail dress and a matching choker. Onyx stilettos adorned her small feet.

"How's it boring?" I looked her over again. "Going somewhere?"

"I don't _know_," She whined, and I could clearly tell she was tired. Traveling to the other side of the country can do that to a girl. "And no, I've already been," She was referring to my second question. "Sophie's son Henry invited me to his friend's birthday powwow," She grinned happily, obviously pleased. "He was _very_ cute, but a little young," She seemed disappointed. "Twenty years old. Too bad, too. He's so nice."

Mitsuki was Byakuya's twin, and the eldest of the four of us. She didn't usually visit us, in constant fear of running into Siesta, our aunt who visited more than often. They, as far as I could tell, had a pretty rocky relationship. I think Siesta's still upset by the fact Mimi dropped out of medical school to become a writer. Stupid, seeing as how she's also a corporate lawyer. People need medics, sure, but those medics are also sometimes sued for malpractice.

She, despite being Byakuya's twin, hardly looked like him. She had the same eyes, and the same hair, sure, but there was something different about her, compared to the rest of us. She was the one I respected, and the only family member besides my other siblings I had no problems with.

She had this extreme sort of air about her, one that exuded passion and mystery, an ominous past that no one was sure they wanted to know. She was happy and exuberant, and actually _laughed_. It was different from Hisana's stern-yet-kind nature and Byakuya's pole-up-the-ass-ness.

She laughed harshly, a laugh that reminded me of a lover's despair in a Nicholas Sparks' book. "It's nothing, really." She was talking about why her life was so miserable. "It's just… a really _baaad _case of writer's block. So far, I've only got names." She handed me the composition book she kept all of her ideas in.

I flipped to the most recent page, one that was marked with a post-it note that said, _Ideas for 'Almost'_ the first title was crossed out, though, and in her messy scrawl, Mitsuki wrote under it- _'Vanished'_. I looked at her strangely, and then looked at the actual page.

_Main character- Rucha (Roo-sha) Itsukio, 19 years old, blonde _(She scratched out blonde) _BLACK hair, blue eyes, pale skin. Sassy, charming, charismatic._

_Leading man- Inari Kuro, 22 yrs old, blond curly hair, brown eyes, tanned skin. Aloof, determined._

_Mildred "Milly" Colton- Rucha's best friend. Blue eyes, brown hair._

_Henry Simons- Inari's best friend. Black hair, brown eyes._

_Lisa Kuro- Inari's sister_

The rest of the page was blank. I turned it, not seeing what to expect. "That's… _it_?" I looked at her, astonished. "Come on! Seriously? That's all you could think of? No plot, no nothing?"

"Hey! It's not as easy as everyone thinks," She sighed, closing her eyes in frustration. "Our minds aren't some ultra-cool place where everything just pops up! It's hard thinking of these things…" She whined, taking the notebook back and flipping through it again.

She sighed, "It was supposed to be like Katie's life. You remember Kat, don't you?" Katelyn Madison was her best friend for like… ever. And I remember Katie having a very hard life, indeed. Always getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, she eventually was sent to reform school by getting accidentally caught up in a drive-by.

Only Mi knew it wasn't her fault. One would argue that she's her best friend, so of course she would take Kate's side. But she knew because she was there, and she'd seen something. Something that was probably a demon. Of course, she couldn't say that to a courtroom full of human lawyers, could she?

Kate was a Faerie, so she _knew_ what was going on.

Mi sighed, tilting her head back to peer out the window. "Do you know if Byaku and Hisa know I'm here?"

"You didn't _tell_ them?"

"I did. They just don't know when I'm coming. Are they home?"

"No. They're at a meeting."

She snorted in laughter, "Oh, my, my, my. Some things never change, now do they? Byaku and Hisa, working as hard as always," She shook her head sadly. Then, she smiled brightly. "Oh, well. It's their loss. They'll be old and worn out and gray before they turn forty, trust me." She laughed at the prospect, and then stepped up, stretching.

Her bones popped with every move she made, and she sighed deeply. "I'm outta here, Ru. I'll be back by tomorrow, mm'kay?" She winked at me, and then disappeared out the window, like a ninja in the nighttime.

I sighed, shut my eyes, jumped on my bed, buried my head in my pillow, and screamed.

~*~*~*~*

"We've met," Was the first thing I'd said when I saw Ichigo again. His scowling features were even more familiar in the daytime. His arms were crossed, and he was clad in the standard guardian's gear. Despite the frown on his face, his eyes were unfathomable. Emotionless. Intimidating.

I held back a shiver.

"Yeah," Ichigo said slowly, "We've met." His voice was quiet, and a little cold. Very unlike the sassy-bad boy vibe I picked up last night.

"Well," Sophia started, a smile on her face. She seemed so much kinder now that sunlight was being let in; her smile was for real, her eyes pulled together in a kind grin, the wrinkles on her face scrunching up together. All in all, she looked like a taller, thinner version of my grandmother. "That's good, we can avoid those awkward introductions."

I sighed heavily, shooting Hisana a look that clearly said, 'Don't make me sit through this, I don't wanna be around here.' She rolled her eyes and shook her head. I turned back to Sophia, biting my lip, and then putting up my best smile.

"What are we doing?"

"Well, first, you're going to be leaving."

"For _how long_?" I asked with impatience in my voice.

"Uh, for about four months, maybe a little more. It's at a place called," She looked at some papers on her desk. "Wyvern Hills Boarding School in London, England. You four will transfer to Wyvern, and finish the semester there. A good portion of magical students go there, mostly vampires and banshees."

She looked at me, Ichigo, Senna, and Lesley, who seemed just as annoyed as I was. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Wait, hold on," I said, my arms crossed defiantly. "You're just gonna ship us away across the country? But… b-but…" I was sputtering, and making a fool of myself, I knew. Even Liss, who seemed just as foolhardy as I was didn't dare to talk back.

"Rukia," Hisana started, obviously embarrassed by my rashness. "Don't." That one word usually shut me up, knowing full well what Byakuya would do to me. He'd get mad… and I mean _really_ mad. But something needed to be said.

"That's not fair! I can't even understand why, on _Earth_ I'm being sent away to a boarding school in _England_. Why me? Why was _I _chosen? Why can't they go by themselves? Why not Evangeline? Why not Inoue?!" It wasn't exactly fair to drag the dumbass bitch from my class into the conversation, but I was pissed off.

Sophia's eyes had hardened into something unfathomable, and my heart raced. "You leave tomorrow."

I glared fiercely at everyone in the room, and then screamed furiously, stalking out.

~*~*~*~*

Hisana couldn't hear me as I ranted. Oh, well. I guess it was better this way. She'd just say, 'You shouldn't have done that,' and gone back to her emails anyways. I saw her play with the volume on her iPod, mouthing out the words of the song. I could tell what it was just by the way her head was moving to the beat.

_You never call me when you're sober. You only want it cause it's over, it's over._

"You're not listening to me at all, are you?"

"Huh?" She looked at me oddly. She grinned, taking off the headphones. "Oh, sorry. _Call me When You_'_re Sober_ is addicting," She turned off Evanescence for a minute, and smiled at me.

"Shoot, honey-buns." She used that old nickname for me she'd made up since she saw how much I loved Chappy the Rabbit.

"Never _mind_. It's too complicated to re-explain." I sighed tiredly, leaning back, onto my bed. "I hate this."

"I know," She pushed my hair back gently. "If it makes you feel any better, I have a friend who works there."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, her name's Yoruichi. I think you'll like her." She smiled at me reassuringly, and got up. "Anyhow, I think I should go talk to Byakuya. Buh-bye!" She grinned toothily, walking gracefully out the door.

I leaned my head back against the pillows, falling asleep.

~*~*~*~*

She stared gloomily at the blinking cursor.

"Damn it." She whispered, leaning back on the couch and folding her arms. Her foot tapped down impatiently on the hardwood floor. "I'm getting nowhere," She finally sighed, defeated. She heard the door open, and looked up.

"Oh, Mitsuki, hi." Hisana. "I was just—"

"It's okay!" Mitsuki smiled chirpily. She patted the spot next to her on the plush hotel couch. "Take a seat!"

Hisana smiled carefully, and walked daintily up. She sat down. If any normal passerby were to see this, they'd think it was totally weird for such polar opposites to be sisters.

Mitsuki, happy-go-lucky, inattentive, boy-crazy, fun-loving, loves to drink, loves to talk, loves to laugh, in her old, worn, white skinny jeans and her favorite Ricky Martin t-shirt. A cool, careless grace surrounds her, making people perk up and smile.

Hisana, quiet, attentive, smart Hisana. Believed in working hard, reading, and over-analyzing everything. Timid and fragile looking in her blue skirt and sweater. A lovely warm aura surrounds her daily, making everyone feel comfortable and relaxed.

Oh yes, two totally different individuals.

"You're writing?" Hisana asked, looking at the laptop.

"Oh, yeah," Mitsuki smiled sheepishly. "So far, I've got nekas."

"_Nekas_?"

"It's Latvian," The long-haired woman said, laughing. "I forgot, you haven't been outta Japan in a while, huh?"

"Since I was fourteen," Hisana murmured faintly, remembering the time when her mother had taken her and Mitsuki to Italy to visit their grandmother.

Mitsuki was silent. She was still smiling. "Come on, you can help me," She said happily, scooting towards her sister with the computer. She quickly typed down the dedication note;

_To my family, especially to my sisters. With love always. Thanks for your help._

Hisana blinked wildly, and then smiled serenely. "O-okay." She picked up the notebook on the glass coffee table, and proceeded to flip through the worn, ripped pages.

Her violet eyes flashed with a recognition she didn't understand as she read the names.

~*~*~*~*

**Yo yo yiggidy yo! How's it going, everyone? I hope you like this chapter, cuz its way longer than a lotta others!**

**Anyway, please review!**

**-Tsuki**


	4. The Little Things Make Me Jealous

**Full summary:** _Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki._

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**Notices/ chapter breaks /emphasis when italicized  
**

_Flashbacks/ titles/ emphasis on certain words/ pages from a book (Mitsuki's writing or otherwise)_

Regular

**Song is 'I Kissed A Girl' by Katy Perry.**

----------

**Chapter three:  
The Little Things (Make me Jealous)**

"**What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours?"  
-**Lauren Kate (Author of _Fallen_)

~*~*~*~*

**Rukia: **We met at the airport, eight o' clock.

Senna smiled happily at me, her suitcase at her side. She was talking to Ichigo animatedly. She was wearing a cute mini-skirt and tank top with a jacket slung haphazardly over the outfit.

You know how Barbie Dolls always wear those mini short shorts and tanks in the 'Winter Wonderland'? Yeah, that's how Senn looks. How can she not be cold?

Ichigo nodded towards me, his duffel bag swung over his shoulder. Typical jeans and the Harrington Academy sweatshirt. Odd, I don't remember them ever having school logos.

Liss, Lesley, or whatever the hell her name was smiled at me beautifully. Her pretty black hair rested comfortably around her shoulders in gorgeous waves, a white ribbon tied around her head. She was wearing something much more suitable for the cold weather; jeans, a cute sweater, and boots.

She motioned for me to come to stand next to her, which I did. Ichigo and Senna were busy talking. Well, actually, it looked like Senna was talking and Ichigo was pretending to be amazed.

"I'm Lesley, as you know, but everyone calls me Liss." She smiled brightly and I felt a little jealous staring at those picture-perfect teeth. Well, she _was_ a Siren. She was supposed to be beautiful enough to make crews of whole ships die. And I was a banshee. Plain enough to be confused with a human.

"Yeah. I'm Rukia." She shook my hand, the smile still on her face.

"Have you ever been to London?"

"No," I shook my head. She gave me this look of disappointment and slight confusion, but it quickly disappeared.

"Oh, okay."

"Have you?"

She smiled, looking up at the plane. HARRINGTON ACADEMY was written plainly across the side in big red letters. "Yeah, I lived there once. With a friend," She smiled prettily once more, and then ran towards the plane.

"Come on you slowpokes!"

I laughed.

~*~*~*~*

I was sitting next to Liss on the plane. Senna and Ichigo were a row away, his purple haired companion talking jubilantly.

"Are they dating?" The words were out of my mouth before I could think to stop them. I was barely here twenty-four hours and I was already jealous of some guy who I barely know, and was supposed to hate.

Lesley looked at me oddly. "Who, sweetie?" Her southern drawl was suddenly very kind and motherly.

"Them," I jerked my head towards our companions for this case. "Are they like, going out?" I don't know why I was so interested, since I barely knew Senna and Ichigo was an asshole.

To my utmost shock, Lesley laughed merrily. She covered her mouth with her hand, she was laughing so hard. Her black nail polish contrasted deeply with her lightly flushed skin. "Oh, honey," She said, still laughing a little, "No, no, no. Ichi and Senn aren't _dating_, I assure you. They're cousins."

"Cousins?" I asked, looking back at them. I suddenly noticed everything about their relationship. The way Senna's smile was nothing more than friendly, and the way Ichigo's eyes shined with a sibling-like love. Not to mention the little resemblance in their eyes. "Oh," My voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the embarrassed tone.

Lesley laughed loudly, "Oh, don't be so embarrassed, Rukia!" She eyed the pavement outside as the plane started up. "You've been through worse!" She suddenly stopped smiling, and stiffened. I blinked.

"Huh?" She talked like she knew me, like she knew what had happened to me before. I looked at her oddly.

"Nothing. Sorry, I'm confused." She laughed nervously. "I m-mistook you for someone else, there, for a minute." She covered up her slip up nicely, smiling with those superstar good looks.

I forgot it quickly, smiling and taking out _Wuthering Heights._ I wondered if Hisana had called my school yet, vaguely.

~*~*~*~*

Liss and I had gotten bored on the trip, so we began to ask questions about each other.

"Where are you from?" It's something I'd wanted to know. I loved her accent.

"Georgia," She said with a grin, sticking her spoon in the vanilla ice cream on the airplane tray. "My dad lives in Montana, though. My mom lives in Maine. I don't know where, though."

It kind of shocked me that Lesley didn't know where her own _parents_ were, but then again, I didn't know where my family was half the time. "Oh, okay." That's all I could say lately. 'Oh' and 'okay'.

"And you?" Lesley looked at me, her brown eyes kind.

"Born in Japan, grew up in Japan." I muttered with a scowl.

Lesley smiled sympathetically. "Oh, sorry. That must suck. So… um, family?"

I shrugged. "Byakuya, my brother. Hisana and Mitsuki are my sister's names. My parents… died, a little while ago. I have a few aunts and uncles, and a cousin or two that come out to visit every so often." I made a face, but smiled when I saw the others. Senna was asleep. Ichigo was leafing through a magazine.

Lesley smiled. "I've got my brother. Andre." She didn't say anything else, and I didn't press her. We all had our inner demons. Maybe this was one. She changed the subject. "Powers?" She moved her fingers and 'oohed'.

I laughed. "Banshees aren't really all too amazing," I admitted. "We scream, people die. It's as simple as that. When a person dies of natural causes, the banshees closest to the deceased scream bloody murder. Literally. If it's self defense, our screams split blood vessels and overload the skull before it implodes on itself. If we sense a deep sadness in someone, we can't help but kill them. Totally accidental. When we're surprised, happy, frightened, or anything resembling emotions like that, it doesn't do anything. The emotion blocks the scream's sensory overload."

"Holy crap. Sirens are nowhere near that complicated," Lesley laughed, sitting back in her seat. "We just sing. That's all we do. That and our beauty attracts men... usually to their deaths. I try to steer clear of the whole singing and mini-skirt wearing. It helps the boys out a bit. The singing actually sucks a man's soul away. If he touches us while we're singing, he goes bye-bye." She smiled, shaking her head. "Have you ever killed somebody?" She suddenly asked, and I blinked.

"Um... yeah. Twice." I didn't feel the need to tell her _who_ I killed. I shifted, and an uncomfortable silence washed over us.

"I killed once." She murmured. "I was... at the beach. It's an experience I never want to relive."

The plane landed in London not an hour later.

~*~*~*~*

"Hey, the name's Adrian Gray," A student from Wyvern Hills greeted us at the school much like Senna did to me. The school seemed much more like a dungeon than an educational building. It was very large and gray, and reminded me a lot of a middle age castle. Then I remembered it was a school run by people who are well over a thousand, so it's bound to look like this.

Adrian was about our age, maybe a year younger. He had chin-length, wavy, brown hair, tanned skin, and pretty blue eyes. He was an angel, I think. Maybe a shifter. Or a reaper. He looked so human that I couldn't tell. But there was something supernatural in him, I could tell. Lesley seemed instantly attracted to the guy, almost drooling over him. He seemed nice enough from my viewpoint. Cute smile, happy attitude, and no scowls or anything.

I already liked him better than Kurosaki.

We each nodded, and he led us to the school gates. He pointed at a wall, "Cameras. Watch where you tread," He said it jokingly, but I knew there was truth somewhere. We walked a little further, where Adrian pointed out some buildings, and a few shops. Backpacks, school stuff, things like that.

"And this is the Headmistress's office," He pointed to a large, tower-like building. I blinked.

"Headmistress's office?" I asked curiously. I'd had plenty of visits to the principals, deans, and any other official of former schools as a kid. I shrugged. This one couldn't be so bad.

"Yeah." He shivered slightly. "Ms. Shihoin's a bit of a bear. Watch yourself." He smiled at us, "I had better be going. See you," He smiled dreamily, and walked away. Liss turned and watched him walk, although I'm sure she was staring at his ass the entire time.

"Ooh!" She grinned, "I think I'm going to like this place!"

Ichigo made a face. "You're disgusting. Can you stop thinking about boys for a _minute_?" He rolled his eyes, and then looked at Senna, who was giggling. She had a light blush on her face from Adrian, more than likely. Hey, even I had to agree he was cute.

Kurosaki's hazel-eyed gaze turned on me. I stiffened, and caught the fleeting look in his eyes. He seemed a little worried. I was a little more than shocked, but covered it up with an insult.

"What're you staring at?" I asked rudely, and he glared hotly. I felt a little bad saying that.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering how you got so damn _short_!" His face was getting red with rage. I'm guessing not many people talked to the oh so mighty Ichigo Kurosaki like that.

"I am _not_! You're just freakishly tall!" I resisted the urge to kick his sorry ass right up to Jupiter.

"Oh, please, you just don't want to admit-" A soft 'ahem' shut him up.

Senn and Liss were looking at us with small smirks on their faces. Senna spoke up first, trying to hide her amusement. "Yeah, uh, I think Miss Shihoin may want to see us…?" She looked at us expectantly.

"Mmhm. Kiss and make up you two," Liss said with a laugh.

Ichigo glared softly at her (I'm beginning to think he has a glaring problem) and a light pink touched his cheeks. "Sorry," He stuck his hand out for me to take.

I blinked up at him, and nodded to myself. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too." I kind of was. Not very fair that I hated him when I didn't even know him.

I took his hand, but a jolt whizzed through my veins, my blood, my being. His hand retreated from mine quickly, like he'd been burned. I felt the same sensation, but it felt _good_, all the same. I immediately missed the touch.

His eyes met mine for a brief second, and I thought I recognized something. Time slowed as something fiery, something burning, something wonderful seeped through my veins, mixing with my blood. Whatever this feeling was, I loved it. It was incredible, this whatever-emotion.

It disappeared as quickly as it came.

He turned on his heel, to Senn and Liss, who seemed oblivious to the entire scene. "Let's go," He breathed, and walked passed them, to the headmistress's office. I walked after him obediently, the newer emotion gone in a flash. I still thought he was a pompous jackass.

Liss laughed loudly behind us.

I could hear Senna sigh warily.

I didn't notice, though. I just kept moving forward.

~*~*~*~*

Yoruichi Shihoin was a tall woman with dark purple hair, amber eyes, and dark skin. She eyed all of us curiously, before smiling a little creepily. She was a were. Not a were_wolf_, but a were. And judging by all the cat motif around the room, I'm guessing something like tiger or a lion.

"Heh, you're Little Byakuya's little sister, right?" She looked at me, humor in her eyes.

I blinked at her, not knowing what to say, before I nodded slightly. "Um, yes." What did she call my brother? _Little_ Byakuya?

She walked up to me, her stilettos clacking loudly on the tile. "Thank god you don't look like him!" She sounded relieved. "Mmhm, yep. You've got the classic Kuchiki woman look," She eyed me appreciatively. "Shiny black hair, big blue eyes, pale skin…"

I wonder if it occurred to her that she was describing Byakuya, as well.

"If you're anything like either of your sisters, it's gonna be easy to know you." She smirked, turning to the other three.

"Lemme guess… Senna, right?"

"You got it!" Senna was so chipper; I knew she'd get on Yoruichi's good side immediately.

Yoruichi turned to Liss, whom she smiled and nodded, "Lesley Barlow, right?"

"Mmhm," She nodded happily, not saying much else. Her gaze was focused outside Yoruichi's large office window.

"And… Ichigo," The Shihoin's smile was feline. Mischievous, fun-loving, and a little lazy. "You're cute kids," She turned to the rest of us with that smile still on her face. Without another word, she shooed us out, her secretary wordlessly handing us our new schedules. We started classes Monday.

Two days until hell on Earth. Oh, joy.

~*~*~*~*

"Thank god I won't die alone!" I sighed in relief when I saw who my roommate was.

Senna grinned. "Ah, yeah. Don't worry. We wouldn't be so cruel as to throw you into the shark tank bare-handed." She laughed a little, and plopped down on her bed. She'd already spread out a brown blanket over the bed, covered in autumn leaves.

I plopped down on my own bed, across the room, which adorned my blue and white winter-themed comforter. I sighed heavily. I missed home. And I couldn't believe I was admitting it.

Senna smiled. "We've got about an hour before we need to meet up with Ichigo and Lesley."

_Ugh._ Not 'ugh' about Liss; she was cool. No, ugh about that asshole named Ichigo Kurosaki.

"You don't like Ichigo very much, do you?" Senna asked gently, an amused smile on her face.

"…Sorry. I know he's your cousin."

"Hey, hey. It's totally cool," She played with the silver charm bracelet on her wrist. "He's a little cold at first. And this afternoon certainly didn't make anything any better." She muttered the last part under her breath. "But he's cool, once you get to know him." She smiled.

"Maybe, I guess." I murmured, and began to unpack my stuff. Better now than later. I'd only packed a couple days worth of clothes, thinking that's how long I'd be in California. Thank God Sana's sending over my stuff.

I walked to our conjoined closet, and blinked. _It's huge. _I smiled. _Thank goodness._ The last thing I needed was Senna's and my stuff to get all mixed together and lost. I hung up all my stuff on the right side. I heard a laugh from behind me.

"Geez, Rukia. You're a total neat freak, aren't you?"

I smiled sheepishly, and nodded. "Yeah. I guess I am."

"That's cool, 'cuz I'm totally _not_." She laughed, and unpacked her own stuff. It consisted mainly of black and red dresses, skirts, shirts, and tank tops. I wondered how she'd survive in London's freezing weather. I also kind of knew she'd shift the conversation to talk about guys. She just hit me as the cherry lip gloss, mini-skirt, loves her hair, loves the boys type of girl.

"So, Adrian… do you think he's hot?"

"Yeah," I spoke truthfully. I swear that if someone combined the looks of Ben Barnes and Leonardo DiCaprio, they'd come up with Adrian Gray.

Senna sighed dreamily. "Mmm… Lesley likes him, too. Looks like we'll have to be competing from now on!"

Now that was something I didn't quite agree on. Adrian was cute, but not cute enough for me to forget everything else and go out with him. And besides, Liss and Senn would have fun trying to outdo each other without me tagging along.

"Yeah, sure," I agreed with her anyway, and looked at my phone. Ugh. Six new messages. Okay, let's see what we got here. One from Renji, one from Hisana, two from Rangiku, one from Mitsuki, and one from Rangiku and Hisagi.

I texted Rangiku and Hisana first, seeing as they were probably the most concerned.

**To: **_**beautiful nightmare~  
**_**From: **_**Chasing sky  
**_**Subject: S-O-R-R-Y!**

_Heyz girly girl. Srry I neva texted u bak. Ill hav 2 tell u all da det. l8er, but I'll tell u now its baaad. Im miserable. Dats all u need to kno 4 now. Bye!_

I called Hisana. It skipped right to voice-mail.

"Hey," I said in a hushed sort of tone, "Just calling back. I'll talk to you later. Tell everyone I said hi," I hung up. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Family problems?" Senna asked from the closet.

I sighed. "You could say that," I tried to smile. "Shouldn't we be going?"

She looked at her watch. "Oh my god, yeah, you're right. We better get out of here." She smiled and ushered me out the door.

"Are you always so scatterbrained?" I asked with a small smile.

Senna only laughed.

~*~*~*~*

"Where's Liss?" Ichigo groaned impatiently. We'd been sitting there for a little over twenty minutes. I didn't blame him, for once. I was a little sick of waiting, myself.

"I tried calling her," Senna said, holding up her cell as evidence. "Skipping _straight_ to voice-mail." She looked very angry, an emotion I'm sure she didn't have very much. She kept playing with her cell phone, making some annoying beeping noises.

Liss suddenly rounded the corner, nonchalant looking. She had a soda in her hands. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

"It's not the first time," Ichigo glared harshly at her. Liss merely shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Shut up. I was checking out the grounds a little more. Figure getting lost when I have a _job_ would be very bad." She smirked wittingly as Ichigo's scowl grew deeper.

"Bitch."

"Bastard."

"Quit it," Senna sighed in a warning tone.

I'd taken out my iPod by then, barely hearing the quarrel over _I Kissed a Girl_.

"Are we going to leave anytime soon?" I finally asked, taking out my headphones and Liss nodded vigorously.

"Oh, yeah," She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry." She glared at Ichigo once more, and then looped her arms around mine and Senna's. "Come on people," She announced, turning around and sticking out her tongue.

Again, something familiar ran through my veins. Something that made me think I'd been here before, or at least in this situation. Somewhere.

"Helloooo?" Senna's playful voice snapped me out of my stupor. "You okay?" She asked with a small smile.

"Um, yeah. Let's go." I nodded at them both, and we walked down the hallway, Ichigo in tow.

~*~*~*~*

"Lesley and Ichigo hate each other," Senna explained when Liss and Ichigo began bickering again.

"Oh, really?" I asked sarcastically. I smiled.

Senna laughed. "Well, yeah. But… I guess I shouldn't say they _hate_ each other. They just don't get off on the same foot."

I nodded, looking past Senna and to the arguing twosome a few yards away. They'd actually calmed down a little. Lesley had her arms folded over her chest, her eyes stern, her mouth moving fast in words I couldn't catch. Ichigo's hands were on his hips, an exasperated look in his eyes. Finally, he sighed, and talked back to her.

Senn and I kept walking.

"—I just cannot believe…" I'd heard Ichigo saying, until he stopped, clamping his mouth shut. He glared at us. "Never _mind_." He sneered, looking at Senna and I with an unreadable face. He sighed, and then shot Liss a soft glare.

"Stay out of it," He almost growled, fast-walking away.

"What was that about?" Senna asked. Her brow was arched in a questionable manner.

Lesley's mouth opened and closed, until she finally sighed and shrugged. "Nothing. That was absolutely nothing." She stared, long and hard at us. "He's just being weird."

Somehow, though, I couldn't really believe that.

~*~*~*~*

On Monday, I had English first period. I recognized Adrian straight away, who was smiling and waving at me. I waved back, a little awkwardly.

Ichigo was supposed to be in my first three classes. And he was nowhere to be found.

Life hates me.

My legs shook underneath the large oak desk before class started. Damn, was I nervous? Kuchiki's don't get nervous.

I looked to my right; someone had just sat down.

The girl had greenish-teal hair and matching blue eyes.

"You're the new girl, right? Well, _one_ of the new kids, huh?"

"Yeah," I nodded, fiddling with my blue pen. I looked down at my Converse. "I'm Rukia."

"Roo-key-ah…" She hummed, testing out my name. "It's cute," She grinned, tapping on the desk with her perfectly manicured nails. "I like it. I'm Neliel Tu Oderschvank." She paused, "But most people like calling me Nel."

"Oh, okay, well it's nice to meet you Nel," I said, smiling and shaking her hand.

"Making new friends already, Neliel? I'm so hurt; you forgot about me already." A boy around our age popped up, with bright teal hair and dark, almost seductive eyes. A whisper. My jaw almost dropped, but then I remembered what the Old Lady in the Sea Sophia said about this school. Magical beings galore.

"Hey, Grimmjow," Nel tried to scowl and glare at the guy, but only ended up blushing. "Rukia, this is Grimmjow Jaggerjack. You know how every school has to have a rich, stupid, pompous, jackass? Well, this is him." Nel gestured to the newcomer, the blush still evident. It was obvious she couldn't help liking him, even if she seriously didn't want to.

"Hello," I greeted him, just as Ichigo walked through the door. He scowled at Grimmjow, and shot me a warning look. I pretended not to notice. "I'm Rukia Kuchiki," This guy was making me a little uncomfortable, but I shook it away. His whole aura seemed to radiate, 'bad boy'.

"Hey," he grinned, and made his way to his desk, a few rows behind us. He winked. My gaze followed him, and it was then that I noticed someone was glaring at me. She was tall, taller than me but shorter than Nel, with dark hair thrown into two pigtails and light pink eyes. A blonde was seated at her right, also giving me a heated death stare.

"He's your friend?" I asked, because Nel seemed so sweet, while Grimmjow's totally _not_. My gaze was still on that girl.

"Yeah." She smiled. "He can be a jerk, but I like him, you know? Well, n-not like that, but as a friend, you know?" She laughed nervously. "It wasn't always like that. We started to get along right after summer, really."

"What made you change?"

"Hell if I know," She laughed.

I laughed, too. "Uh, yeah. Any idea who that chick over there is, giving me the death eyes?"

Nel turned, and smiled slightly, rolling her eyes. "Don't be scared. That's Loly. Her little sidekick is Menoly," She shook her head. "She's sort of infatuated with Grimmjow over there. Adrian, too. She saw you wave to them, and I guess she's just being bitter."

The teacher walked in. He quickly wrote his name on the board, "Mr. Kyoraku". He was this laid back kind of guy that made me wonder how he became a teacher. He looked really sleepy half the class, only actually teaching when his teacher's assistant, Nanao, slapped a book on his desk or kicked him.

It was pretty comical, altogether.

"He only writes his name for new students; that's how we know." Nel murmured with a smile.

He sighed, smiling in a fatherly kind of way.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

~*~*~*~*

I quickly learned that Kyoraku Shunsui's already on my 'awesome teachers' list, for one reason.

He does not take the time to introduce new students.

Hallelujah.

I wrote down the answers to the little pop quiz he'd given us. It's so easy. It's about crap like William Shakespeare and stuff. I learned all of this no shy of two years ago. I breezed through.

When the bell rang, people rushed out the door. Nel said goodbye, and left me until I could see her again, in fourth period gym. I made it out the door and halfway down the hallway, only to be stopped by Ichigo's hand on my shoulder.

"Who was that guy you were talking to earlier?" He almost growled, his hand tightening slightly.

I winced. "Why do you care?" I asked, a glare in my eyes intensifying. "You hate me; I think you've made that very clear."

"I don't hate you," He said, his eyes incredulous.

"Oh, really? Then why do you argue with me? Why do you fight with me? Why do you scowl at me? Why-"

He cut me off. "Because you're opinions are stupid."

This hurt me for some reason I couldn't really understand. "Oh. Well, that's nice."

He sighed. "You know what I mean. I'm sorry, I have a short temperament."

"I think I figured that out," I said, a small smile gracing my lips.

"It's just easy this way."

I couldn't figure him out. Easier to not be friends? Easier to hate my guts? "…So, you're basically saying it'd be easier on everyone—mostly yourself—if you hated me." My voice was incredulous. I couldn't believe him.

"Yes. No, uh… well, kind of. This job takes a toll on everyone. It's better if you don't get too attached." Ichigo's usual scowl softened slightly. I guess that made a little sense. Guardians got killed every day. He walked away.

"I'm not sticking it through after this," I murmured, half-hoping he'd heard me. He didn't. I turned on my heel. I readjusted my backpack, which was slung over my right shoulder. Not even four days and my life was being turned upside down and inside out.

~*~*~*~*

Miss Carly Clemmons is our history teacher. Unlike Shunsui, she's not so kind. She's already making us stand up and say our names. She sucks.

Miss C has this huge smile, bright teeth, long platinum blond hair, and bright brown eyes. She looks about twenty six, with a tall, curvaceous figure. She's actually pretty nice, despite the fact she's making me introduce myself.

We immediately began to learn about unimportant stuff that I will probably _never_ use once I'm an adult. I really don't think professional dancers or artists or FBI agents will use this information. Well, maybe FBI, but that's a long ways off.

"Joan of Arc, or Jeanne D'Arc as she is also known, was a woman who—"

I usually never block teachers out, even if the information was something I already knew, but something made me not pay attention to anything. I tapped my foot against the desk chair, listening to the tick tock of the clock on the other side of the room.

I blankly flipped through my textbook, staring at pictures and artwork of people who had an actual impact on the world.

"…_It's better if you don't get too attached."_

My eyebrows knit together in obvious confusion. What had he meant by that? It sounded like what Edward told Bella in Twilight. That they shouldn't be friends. That he could hurt her. But this was different. Ichigo couldn't hurt me. Maybe not intentionally, but if we became friends and something happened to one of us…

I shook my head slightly. I didn't want to think about that. It wouldn't happen.

I paper airplane landed gracefully on my desk. I looked behind me discreetly.

Senna grinned and motioned to open the paper.

_What the _fuck_? When did she get here?_ I couldn't remember ever seeing Senna slip into class.

I opened the note.

_Hey! Didn't see me come in, did ya? Haha, am I smart or what? That flighty chick Clemmons has absolutely no sixth sense. You could come out through the ceiling and she wouldn't give a damn. Oh, anyhow__…__ Just wanted to share the good news. I'm in all the rest of your classes! _**Woo**_! Hey, maybe we can ditch fifth period (math) and go somewhere to chit-chat. Liss is already coming. Ichigo's too much a of goody-two shoes. So, sound like a plan? Tell me after class. _**PEACE. **_  
-Senna_

Miss C hadn't noticed a thing.

I stuffed the pink notebook paper in my pocket, turned my head, and nodded. I kind of hated calculus, and the teacher sounded boring. I didn't really _want_ to ditch, because I knew it would probably screw up any chance I had in working in law enforcement. But really, right now, I could care less.

I tapped my foot against the tile.

~*~*~*~*

_Rucha gasped as his hands clasped around the small of her back. Her legs were shaking from the emotional intensity of all this. She couldn't see his face, but deep in her mind, she knew who it was._

_Her eyes closed blissfully, waiting for the kiss she'd waited her entire life for. His body tensed against hers, and as he—_

"Mi?"

"Yeah?" _Damn. _Mitsuki turned around, and smiled at Byakuya. "You needed something?"

"Yeah," He started, "We're going back to Karakura tonight. Do you want to come back with us? I think Siesta wanted to see you."

_I doubt that._ She deadpanned. "Nah, Byakuya. Sorry. I'm supposed to be back in New York by Saturday. And Siesta's not so kind towards me," She spoke truthfully, smiling.

"Oh, so you're just gonna stay in your apartment all day until you finish that story?"

"No," Mitsuki responded, grabbing an Evian bottle from her room's mini fridge. "Just until my vacation's done. And then, I'm back to work. Avery's working me like a dog," She rolled her eyes, and made to open the Evian. Byakuya snatched the bottle away. "Hey!"

"This isn't cheap," He defended, lifting up the twenty dollar bottle.

"Cheapskate," Mitsuki taunted, grabbing the bottle back. She fished out twenty dollars. "Here, dummy." She smiled, and sipped the water.

"I don't know why it's so expensive. It's French tap water."

"It's _good_ French tap water," She said, grinning again. "It's either this or the hundred dollar champagne. That's French, too, you know."

Byakuya rolled his eyes, and grabbed the bottle of alcohol anyway. "To my sister, whose finally learning how to work."

"Shut it," Mitsuki growled, stuffing the almost-full water into her purse, and grabbing the glass her brother had poured. She took a careful sip. She never took that much of a liking to champagne, but it was better than nothing. She was stressed, she had to admit.

"You're still stuck on that story?"

"Yeah. I… I like it. It's nostalgic."

"How so?"

She cast a sideways glance out the window, at the waning moon. "I don't know," She whispered, "I want to say it's like my life. Or Kat's. Or yours, or Hisana's, but it's really not. It's seems so familiar. Like I've lived it, I've seen it, and the story's just… waiting to be told." She walked away, to the balcony.

Byakuya's eyes were a little wide. He strode after his twin; his long legs making it almost look like he was running. "I'd… I'd like to read it when you're finished." There was a hint of desperation in his tone.

She looked at him, shocked, and nodded. "Of course."

He nodded, gave her a chaste hug, and left to find his other sister.

Mitsuki stayed on the balcony, looking out at the glowing L.A lights. She looked at her cell phone, which had stayed in her pocket all day.

"Love is such a silly emotion," She sighed. "Comforting, happy, and lovely. But it can still hurt you, like the sharpest thorn on the most beautiful rose." She chuckled darkly, shaking her head.

"I guess we never change."

~*~*~*~*~

"So, you're joining in?" Senna asked hopefully. Liss looked at Rukia expectantly.

"Yeah. I hate math. And Nel told me the teacher smells like cheese."

"Cheese?" Lesley giggled. "That's so random."

Rukia shrugged. "Whatever. So, where are we gonna go?"

"Nowhere important," Lesley sighed. "It's reconnaissance, basically. Sneaking around the campus gathering enough information as possible. Yoruichi cleared it over already. We're clear for calculus class for the rest of this week, so it's not actually ditching."

"Yeah, but ditching sounds funner."

"'Funner' is not a word, Senna," Lesley reminded her.

"It is to me!" The violet-haired girl said stubbornly, pouting.

I laughed.

~*~*~*~*~

"You're skipping out fifth period?" Ichigo asked, a semi-smile on his face in gym.

"Yeah. You're coming for the 'mission'?" I asked in a hushed tone when a few girls walked by, laughing and giggling. I really, highly doubted skipping calculus was for the greater good of finding out what happened to Aria and probably many others.

"Nah," Ichigo smiled, "Someone has to keep up an appearance."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. It actually seemed somewhat like a normal conversation between friends. The coach walked in, big and bulky looking. Nel shivered and walked up next to me.

"That's Coach Zaraki Kenpachi," She gulped, "He's really tough. Although, I suppose he's better than Coach Mirazumi."

"Why? What's his deal?" Ichigo asked, taking his place on my right.

"He was the freshman coach. He was such a perv, though. He always looked down some of the girl's tops," Her eyes hardened in a glare. "I'm just happy I was so flat back then." I blinked. It was a little difficult imagining Nel to be _flat_. "Finally, Milly got him fired." She gestured to a black haired girl few yards away, with shining blue eyes talking to another pink-haired girl.

"And that's Yachiru Kusajishi." She jerked a thumb at the pink haired girl. "She's Zaraki's niece. He's not supposed to play favorites, but she's his _niece_. It's kind of inevitable." She smiled, shaking her head. Yachiru was short, really short, like, shorter than me, and looked almost like a doll with the rosy blush and her bouncy nature.

"Okay people, it's mile day!"

A few groans and a couple of sighs were heard through the crowd. I shrugged. I didn't mind running. As a matter of fact, it's one of the only things that relieves me of stress.

"I hate running. Who's cruel idea was it to have miles on _Mondays_?" Nel asked, closing her eyes.

"I don't know," Ichigo said, stretching out himself. I couldn't help but stare at his sinewy, muscular biceps. I actually almost began to drool. Ichigo smirked. "See something you like, Kuchiki?"

I blushed, but snorted and looked away. "_Please_. You're hardly anything special." _Stupid, arrogant, bipolar, bastard._ I reached down to touch my toes, my fingers almost touching the hardwood floors of the gym. It was snowing outside, so we really couldn't run out there.

The girl from first period, Loly, stood next to me. "The name's Loly. You're Rukia? Aren't you?" She looked a little disgusted.

"Yeah, I am."

"Huh, well. Hope you don't choke. In Zaraki's class, you either run, or you _fail_. Hope you got the stamina." She smiled condescendingly and walked away to her friends.

"Bitch." I said simply, glaring at the girl. _It's like Orihime all over again. Joy._

I rolled my eyes as Kenpachi blew his whistle. Everyone took their places. Loly stood next to me, posed to run. "Don't cho-oke," She sang, smiling.

Zaraki blew his whistle a second time.

I dashed forward. I could hear Nel's gasp and Loly's growl. I'd seen Ichigo's shocked, yet proud face. Loly caught up with me in milliseconds, growling and making soft wheezing noises.

"You… are such… a _bitch_. Nobody's ever outrun Loly Kamio." I could tell she spoke from the heart.

"Thanks." I grinned, and ran faster.

The second person who caught up with me was Ichigo, who was running, barely winded. My eyes widened a fraction. Even though he was a Dhampir, he still had to get exhausted _a little_. If he was full vampire, that would be a different story. But no, the human body, even with immortal blood, could not take such strain.

I wondered briefly if he was what he appeared.

He smirked at me and winked, running past me effortlessly. I blinked, my jaw dropping slightly. I looked over my shoulder, to see my classmates far behind me, and Loly looking ready to pass out.

_Oh well, at least she'll be done before the second lap's half-over._

I smirked to myself before Grimmjow breezed past me much like Ichigo had.

"What's up?" He wasn't even breaking a sweat. My eyes widened a bit, and then I answered.

"Nothing much." I attempted a laugh, pushing myself to run a little harder. I'd be damned if I was outdone by the two most annoyingly arrogant men on the planet.

Grimmjow smiled—or was it a smirk? I couldn't tell.—and waved me off. "It'll get better. Probably. Wyvern Hills is a pretty crappy place, filled to the brim with snobs and daddy's little children," He scowled, "But we're not all stuck up rich bastards." He smiled (smirked?) again, and ran past me.

I blinked, hardly thinking to catch up. Before I knew it, I was already finished with my mile, coming in third behind Ichigo-Dumbass-Kurosaki and Grimmjow-gives-me-chills-Jaggerjack.

Loly had passed out before the half mark on her third lap.

"Loly likes you," I said suddenly to Grimmjow, and he blinked. "She really likes you."

He turned to the girl, who was panting hard, and sitting on the floor, a water bottle sitting in her lap.

"I know. She's a fucking bitch." He scowled. "She's not worth wasting my time."

I just shrugged and turned to Ichigo and Neliel. They were talking and laughing.

"Oh, looks like they're hitting it off. They look kind of good together, I guess." Grimmjow's voice was hesitant, and I could hear the small snarl in his usually even voice. I turned, my eyes hardening at my friend and Ichigo.

They _did_ look like a couple from my view. Or at the very least, flirting.

I sighed, turned around, and did not look back.

~*~*~*~*~

**I think I'm making Rukia too OOC. Ichigo, I think, is just right, and I'm hoping Nel and Grimmjow are, too. I 3 Grimmjow!**

**Lolz, so I hope you people liked it! Um… so goodbye for now.**

**Please, please, PLEASE review!**

**-tsuki**


	5. Fear

**Full summary: **_**Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki.**_

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**----------**

**Chapter Four:  
Fear**

"_It felt so good, just to be held."_  
**-Lauren Kate (Author of **_**Fallen**_**)**

**Rukia:** I can't say the dream I had that night wasn't real. I can't even say it was a dream. More like a horrible reality that no one ever wanted to happen.

_Kaien! Kaien!_

I shut my eyes, willing the memory away.

_I looked around, past the flames licking at my skin, around for Kaien. Any sign of Kaien Shiba. Any sign, any sign would be good. "Kaien!" I was almost sobbing by now. I could hear Rangiku's screaming outside, begging me to get out; to save myself._

_Not without him._

"_Rukia Kuchiki! Get out of there!" She was screaming, screaming harder than I'd ever heard anyone scream before. Even when they were dying. She was screaming an agonizing wail, one filled with worry and pain. She loved Kaien and I both, like siblings.  
_

I groaned, turning over on the dorm room's bed. "Make it go away…"

"_KAIEN!" I still cried, harder than before, not hearing anything. I ran through the burning house, looking for any sign of him. I called his name over and over again, never once getting a reply. I couldn't find him anywhere in the small, cramped beach house._

_I can't remember how it happened, but all of a sudden I was catapulted outside, watching with horror filled eyes as the house went up in flames, the man I loved inside. Rangiku and Hisagi were at my side in seconds, holding me, telling me it'd be okay. Renji was on the phone with 911 and Byakuya was on his way._

_I didn't care at all. I just kept crying his name like a prayer. I hoped that it was all a dream._

It wasn't.

_Byakuya held me close, the big brother in him finally shining through. "Shh. Rukia, it's okay. It's all over, now."_

I panted hard, my face pressed against the pillows. My breaths were harsh and shaky, and I kept saying his name over and over, like a mantra. "Kaien, Kaien, Kaien, Kaien..."

Senna's hand reached my shoulder sympathetically. It was barely six o' clock, on the second day in London. She was whispering something to me. "Shh, it's alright, it's okay. Breathe. Okay? Just _breathe_."

Her voice was soothing. I finally calmed down enough to look up, and I gazed at her through my puffy red eyes. "T-thanks."

"Don't mention it." She smiled. "Who's Kaien, sweetie?" She sounded a lot like Mitsuki at the moment, and I sniffed, willing whatever leftover tears there were away.

"A guy. A guy I really liked. I met him years ago, during freshman year. It was, um, at my friend Miyako's birthday party. Her house was by the beach, and we… I don't know, we snuck off, to an old beach house." I smiled at the memory. I'd gotten my first kiss there. "The beach house we were in… people said it was haunted. He wanted to test the theory. And it… _caught up in flames._" My voice broke.

Senna stroked my back. "It's alright. You don't have to talk anymore."

But it had been too long since I'd last told anyone. My best friend Rangiku Matsumoto didn't even know the full story. "H-he died, Senn. He _died_. He got killed in that fire, it's my fault, it's all my fault!" I was crying again, sobbing hysterically.

"Shh, no it's not. It's never been your fault," She murmured, rubbing my arm gently, holding me like a sister would.

I didn't really know what she meant by that, but I didn't question it.

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, Rukia!" Liss was the first person I saw the morning later, a chocolate mocha in her hands. "I've been _hearing_ some stuff about you," She 'tsked' and grinned wider than I thought possible. "So, word is you and Loly have a little… argument, going on."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Lemme guess, Ichigo told you?" Shivering, I eyed Liss's jacket. It was a pretty cobalt blue and couture, and even though the heater was on inside the building, I was insanely wishing I'd brought my own sweatshirt and worn jeans instead of these stupid black jeans shorts and a _Twilight: New Moon_ T-shirt.

"Nope," She smiled, "I first heard it from Adrian. He's like, the center of all the gossip in this damned school. Then, I heard it from some hyperactive chick named Nel in my Spanish class," She shrugged, "and then a dude named Grimmjow in my chem. 2 class, and finally Ichigo. By then it was old news."

"So what's the deal, honey bunches?" She got in front of me, the mocha clasped in front of her, bouncing happily on the balls of her feet. I maneuvered my way around her to get to English. Not that Kyoraku would care if I was late, anyway.

"I don't know. She just hates me."

Lesley glared at the ceiling for a little bit, almost like she was cursing somebody. Or something.

She then smiled. "Mmm, well, that sucks. But like they say, all's fair in love and war."

"What the heck does that have to do with Loly?"

"I don't know. But like my mom always said; there's always going to be some people who hate you, or are jealous of you, for absolutely no reason at all." She shrugged. "But I can _so_ see why that bitch Loly and her little bitchette Menoly have it out for you. They're jealous."

"Jealous?" I asked incredulously. Loly Kamio was tall, ebony-haired, slim, and beautiful. She wasn't exactly well-endowed, but I wasn't either. "Why the hell would Loly 'I'm so perfect' Kamio be jealous of _me_? I'm not anything special."

"You say that," Liss started, still staring at the ceiling. "But how do you know there's _not_ something special about you? Have you ever wondered how much you mean to the world? How would the world turn if you weren't here? Think about it," She said, and she sounded really philosophical, like an awkward mix of Byakuya, Mitsuki, Hisana, and Rangiku.

I stared at her.

Lesley laughed all of a sudden, a silly, casual laugh that had me wondering faintly about her sanity. "It's okay. Loly's just bitter because she's a vampy and you're a pretty lil' banshee." She clicked her tongue and nodded. "She's a very petty woman."

"Why would she be jealous about _that_?" Banshees were very common, actually, and usually held little importance socially. The mystical world usually revolved around vampires and shinigami and ghosts and even sirens. Even humans hardly gave our kind the time of day.

"You're rich. Her parents aren't. They work for the Tarasov clan." The Tarasov's were a very rich vamp clan that's been on the top of the social hierarchy since the fifteen hundreds. I raised a brow. I knew those 'designer clothes' of hers were knockoffs from Target or Wal-Mart.

"You're more powerful, too," Lesley continued, picking at her newly pink-polished nails. "You, my dear," She pointed at me, "Can split her blood vessels with a scream. She's barely considered a vampire. Her parents make her file down her teeth."

_Ouch._ I winced for my rival. A vampire filing her teeth was like a giraffe eating meat.

It just went against the laws of nature.

"Yeah. Something happened when she was thirteen, from what I've read." Lesley had to read up on every student at Wyvern, for obvious reasons. "Didn't say anything else besides the fact that she had to see a shrink for three years. I'm kind of scared to ask, though. If students here are so secretive about it, and it's so on the down low that it's not on her record, I don't think I want to know about it." She shrugged.

I remembered my own past, the dream about Kaien. I shuddered. Liss noticed and touched my forehead. "Are you okay? You're pale. You don't have a fever, though, so that's good." She smiled, keeping her palm flat against my forehead, before checking her own temperature with her other hand.

She noticed my outfit and whistled. "Woo-ooh!" She squealed, grabbing the hem of my shirt. "I love Tay-Tay Lautner," She shook her head appreciatively. "I'm borrowing that shirt," She told me, and turned, walking backwards.

She stopped outside her history class. She sighed. "Mr. McGrath is gonna give me hell," She smiled, shaking her head. Mr. McGrath was the world history teacher. Miss Clemmons was the U.S history teacher. Liss took U.S history last semester, at Harrington's, so she didn't need to take it again.

I smiled, shaking my head. "Good luck, you'll need it."

"Mmhm, catch you later." She waved me away, walking into class with slow and steady steps. I winced, hearing Mr. McGrath's gibberish way of yelling at late students.

I slipped into English. Nobody noticed except for Ichigo, who rolled his eyes at me. I hadn't paid much attention to the class earlier, but it was much like Karakura High. People falling asleep, boring teacher, couples making out in the back. It was so normal.

'Where were you?' Nel mouthed when I took my seat. I shrugged.

"Running late," I whispered with a smile. "Sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "S'okay. Kyoraku didn't take roll. He never takes roll."

I smiled.

~*~*~*~*~

"_Mmm," She shook her head. "I don't believe in love."  
He tilted his head to the side. "Oh? And why not, pray tell." He was sounding like he was from the eighteen hundreds, she noticed, and furrowed her brows in confusion.  
"It just seems like an illusion to me. In your heart you know that nothing can ever go right with love. Why would you ever want to chance the heartbreak?" Her voice was soft. His eyes narrowed at her. She obviously didn't believe her own words. He grabbed her hands in his own.  
"Sometimes, you just have to take that risk." She didn't know what he meant by that. Suddenly, as if burned, he recoiled, smiled slightly, and left her there, sitting in his Jeep, confused at her own feelings._

Mitsuki slammed a palm down on the kitchen table, and let out an exasperated groan. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! I fucking _despise_ writer's block," She whined, hitting Select All, and then pressing the Delete key on her laptop harshly. She pushed the computer away and buried her face in her arms.

Hisana, who was sitting across from her, smiled at the twenty-six year old gently. Mitsuki, against her better judgment, had come back to the small town her siblings lived in. She was never a country girl, and being in such a small place kind of scared her. Her aunt just added to the anxieties.

"It's alright; you'll get over it quickly. Just think of what inspired you."

Mitsuki took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. _Hands on Me _by Vanessa Carlton and practically every song ever sung by Carrie Underwood," She started typing again when she felt the alarmingly cold presence behind her and the scent of old, stale baby powder fill her nose. She scowled.

"Auntie Siesta," She spoke sweetly, "How's it goin'?"

"Don't give me that," She spat, "You're a disgrace to this family!" Her hair was graying a little and damaged from hair dye, but her face was tan and wrinkle-less due to many Botox injections throughout the years. Her brown eyes were wide and creepy.

Mitsuki rolled her eyes, facing her. She put on her most sickening, little red riding hood grin…

And then flipped her sixty-five year old aunt off.

Hisana covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles. Siesta gasped. "Why! How dare you—"

"How dare I _what_, you old crow?" Mitsuki was usually all for senior citizen's rights, but Siesta was a special exception. Since Mitsuki's eighteenth birthday the bitter old bat just hated her for whatever reason.

"How dare you leave that _school_! Do you know how much your parents paid for that college?"

Hisana's jaw dropped. _Oh my god. They're still arguing over _that_? Ugh, they're both deathly stubborn._

"Yeah, I'm sure the one and a half percent strain on their bank balance really sent them into bankruptcy," She said dryly, "I can't even understand that. I'm doing good; I'm not in debt or anything, so I don't see the point in getting so worked up. So, yeah, I don't make as much as they did, but I'm happy and not totally stressed out like they were! I live an awesome life, if I do say so myself."

Dismissing the old woman, she turned back to the novel, and thought, her chin dropping tiredly into her hand. "Hisana, turn up the music, I love this song!" _The Saltwater Room_ by Owl City started to play even louder as Hisana moved it to max volume.

"I thought you hated this song!" Hisana yelled.

"I do! I'm just annoying Byakuya!"

Byakuya's voice was heard from his study, upstairs. "Turn down that damn Owl-whatever-the-hell-he-is!" The only time that man ever lost his composure was when Owl City started playing. The same went with Mitsuki. It was a shame, seeing as Hisana really liked it.

Siesta, growling, stomped away childishly.

Cursing her nephew and his wife for conceiving such stupid children the entire way, of course.

~*~*~*~*~

"_Shut up and put your money where your mouth is, that's what you get for waking up in Vegas! Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now, that's what you get for waking up in Vegas," _Liss sang happily to the Katy Perry song, mimicking the beat against her math textbook.

"I, I, I, fucking hate cal-cu-lus," She sang to the beat of _Waking up in Vegas_, tapping her foot on the ground, purposely making her voice obnoxiously bad.

I smiled, "Nice voice, Lesley," I said sarcastically.

She looked at me funnily. "Huh? What was that, Ruru?"

I shook my head, "Ah, never mind."

Liss yanked out the ear buds. "Where's Senna?" She asked suddenly, looking around the depressing library. Old books sat on top of creaky old bookcases. The place smelled like decaying paper and old ink. It had an oddly historic feel, like something was lurking around, something old and ancient.

"I don't know," I said honestly, "I haven't seen her since lunch," I hadn't seen Ichigo, either, but I didn't feel the need to bring him up. I looked at my watch. Forty-nine minutes until dinnertime. "You wanna go out for sushi tonight?" I asked her. There were so many restaurants on campus.

"Hmm," She thought, "Sounds cool. Should I call Senn and Ich later?"

"Yep." I said with a soft smile. A guy at a table a few feet away shushed us.

Lesley waved him off, showing off a pretty grin that would have most men trembling. He snorted and turned back to his magazine.

"Must be asexual," She muttered.

"Or blind." I agreed. No man could resist a Siren's smile. I looked at him again. "He's a Satyr," I noticed with a shrug. His calves looked like a goat's… human, but really hairy and kind of scrawny. He shouldn't have been wearing shorts. It didn't look so hot. Not to be mean, of course.

"Aren't Satyrs supposed to be like, totally sexually active?" She looked back at him. "There's something wrong with this one…"

"Nah," I grinned. "They only like those little pixies and nymphs, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah. That's almost like inbreeding, right?"

"I don't think so," I shrugged, grinning. I changed the subject when the librarian walked in. She had a grandmotherly air about her, all sweet and innocent looking. She had graying brown hair, butterfly-like bifocal glasses, and a huge grin, showing off crooked white teeth.

"Hello, Miss Kuchiki, Miss Barlow." Her name was Mrs. Williams, I remembered as she put some books away.

"Hey, Clarisse," Liss said pleasantly, stuffing her iPod into her bag before Williams could see it. Mrs. Williams was pretty cool like that; she let all of us call her by her first name. Clarisse grinned as she put a few more books from the rolling cart into their places on the shelves.

Something must've caught Liss's attention, because she leaned forward a bit and craned her neck towards the cart. "Hey, Clare," She started, shifting slightly, "What's that book?" She pointed to a fairly thick book, with a brownish-colored binding and old, slightly torn pages.

"Oh, that's a new one."

_Doesn't look so new to me, Clare._

"You wanna check it out, dear?" She lifted up the book for us to have a better view. Liss nodded a bit too enthusiastically.

"Mm'kay, sure!" She stood and took the book from Clarisse, her hands shaking a little. I peered at the title. Christ, it was practically all in Romanian. I looked up at my brunette friend, who was looking through the book, seemingly interested. She could've just been looking to get a good rep with the librarian, though.

God knows what that woman could do with our personal files.

"_O renaştere nou în lume. Dragostea de un înger va floare pentru totdeauna mai mult." _She murmured in Romanian, sitting down. Clare looked pleased.

"I didn't know you knew Romanian."

"I don't," Liss looked sheepish, "I just read." No way. That accent was too perfect. Clare seemed to buy it, though, because she just smiled and said her goodbyes. We talked a little more, the annoying Satyr from earlier finally getting fed up and leaving the vicinity, growling at us menacingly with a glare to match.

"What did you say?" I asked her, recalling her speaking Romanian so clearly.

Lesley looked at me, blank and unamused. "I don't know," Her voice was laced with finality. "I just read it." She smiled. "Let's call Senn and Ich and head out, shall we?"

I nodded, slightly surprised at the sudden change of character.

I followed her wordlessly.

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey guys," I was the first to greet Senna and Ichigo at the restaurant.

Lesley was sitting down and flipping through the menu four seconds flat after we came through the front door. "Mmm, ohagi looks good," she murmured, "Ooh, the dragon roll, maybe? Or the California rolls…"

"That's not Japanese," Senna reminded her, grinning.

Liss waved her off. "Bah! Like I care, food's food."

I laughed. _Rukia._

I jerked my head up and looked around. How weird. Hadn't somebody just called my name, just now?

"Are you okay?" Senna's voice. I looked up. Her gold-flecked eyes were drowning in a sisterly worry. "You look a little pale," She tilted her head to the side, looking kind of innocent. But there was something _about_ her that made me think otherwise. Not evil, or anything, but… knowing.

"You do," Ichigo agreed. My eyes couldn't help but flick over at him. He was scowling—no surprise—but in his voice was a slightly worried undertone. "You need to take a trip to the nurse, Kuchiki? Last thing I need is my partner falling out on me." His scowl deepened.

"S-shut up," I glared at him, feeling slightly hurt. Was that all I was, was I just his job?

I shook the thought away. Of course I was a job. He's mine, too. I shouldn't even be feeling whatever this is. I hate him. He's rude, he's mean, and he called me _short_, for crying out loud! "I'm fine. It's just a cold. The sudden weather changes probably did it." Cool countryside Karakura, sunny, sultry Californian forests, and freezing London in barely a week.

"Probably," Senna agreed with a shrug. "Keep warm, though. We don't want you to have to be shipped off to a hospital," She laughed, stirring her Coke around with her straw. The ice in the glass made a slightly distracting 'clinking' sound.

"Yeah, mm'kay," I murmured, not really paying attention to anything. I hummed to myself as Lesley, Senna, and Ichigo talked humorously, telling jokes and laughing about their day. I merely nodded, laughed, or smiled when I was spoken to, remembering the old song I used to listen to all the time when I was a kid.

_Sometimes we fall down and can't get back up  
we're hiding behind skin that's too tough  
how come we don't say I love you enough  
till it's too late, it's not too late_

~*~*~*~*~

**To: **_**Chasing Sky (My best friend who doesn't deserve me and my awesomeness) **_**  
From: **_**xoxoGossipGirlxoxo (U kno who I iz)  
**_**Subject: RE: S-O-R-R-Y**

_Yes, I changed my signature. And sorry it's taking so long to write back. Everybody's been so worked up over Aria's death. The humans in Kura think it's nothing more than a freak accident. Poor Eva hasn't left her house for days. Oh, and Hisagi and Renji say hey. Hisagi would've called himself, but his dad took away his phone for going to Kenta's party. Sucks, huh? Renji, the idiot, broke his at K's, and as punishment his parents aren't letting him get another, even with the insurance. Oh, well. It's his fault.  
So, yeah. Hey._

~*~*~*~*~

**1 missed call  
From: Hisana**

_Hey, Rukia. It's Hisana. How're things in London? I'm sorry, you know that right? We miss you. Yes, even Byakuya. I think he misses your dry humor. Mitsuki's spending some time in Karakura now, and there's static with her and Siesta.  
…We do miss you. Don't _ever_ think otherwise. I love you, sis.  
Bye!_

~*~*~*~*~

**To: **_**Chasing Sky (My lovely baby sis, who ELSE?)  
**_**From: **_**Dancing in the Rain (U better kno who I am, I swear)**_**  
Subject: Um… hi?**

_Um… hi? is right! You have not called me since L.A. What's the biz, Ru-ru-ru-Rukia? You avoidin' your second fave sissy here? LOL, JK. Just call me back when you can, OK? Oh, and don't worry about Yoruichi. She seems like a toughie, but she really isn't. But if you see her talking to a guy with blond hair and a creepy ass smile, RUN. They swap the ickiest and most disturbing sexual innuendos. I'm sure you wouldn't wanna hear most of 'em.  
LOL, bye!!_

~*~*~*~*~

I stared at the texts and listened to the voicemail. Nothing new, not really. Not exactly. Well, nothing I wasn't already expecting.

Except for that little tip about Yoruichi and the guy who was probably Ichigo's dorm advisor, Kisuke Urahara. Icky is _right_.

~*~*~*~*~

"Byakuya?"

"Hm?" Said man looked at his sister (Hisana) and raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Hisa?"

She looked uncomfortable. Siesta was gone for now, back to her real home in South Carolina. Mitsuki had finally heeded both Hisana _and _Byakuya's words, and was, at the moment, sleeping soundly. Nora Robert's _Angels Fall_ was thrown haphazardly on her lap. She was snuggled up against some old pillows that, even after all these years, still smelled like their mother's favorite perfume. She mumbled something in her sleep.

"It's just… what would you do if I died?" The fire crackled loudly. She cast a glance at Mitsuki. "If… one or _both_ of us died?" Her voice was almost weak.

"Hisana. What's this about—?"

"What would you do if Rukia died?" She felt horrible for asking this, for even bringing up the concept of death, but it'd been plaguing her mind since this morning.

Since the anniversary of her parent's death.

"I don't know," He finally answered, seemingly getting where her question had come from. "I don't know what I'd do. Mourn, yes, of course, with all of you," He paused, "but then it would all be different actions depending on who died first and how you left."

"How?" She was very persistent. But he knew she was really asking, _What about me, Byakuya?_

"If Rukia died, I'd be so lost. I'd miss her and her dry sense of humor. It's hard not to think about her, so I know I'd miss her forever, even if she was a shinigami or with the reapers." He closed his eyes, a small half-smile gracing his lips, "It's already hard with her gone like this, so sudden." It was very unusual hearing her brother talk like this, so gently, so mournful, like it'd already happened.

"If Mitsuki died, the wench," He looked at his twin, a rare smile twisting his features, "I'd feel like I'd lose a part of me. She's my twin, after all. But, actually, I don't think I'd miss her enough to cry. As a matter of fact, I'd bring her back so I could kill her again." He shook his head, saying the words jokingly.

A murmur was heard near Mimi's side of the couch. "You _bastard_." She half-growled, getting up and stomping childishly and purposefully to her room. Hisana smiled.

"And me…?"

"You… I don't know." He grabbed her hand. "I just… can't imagine life without you. Rukia could hardly understand it, and Mitsuki had already gone and moved out when mom and dad died…" Hisana flinched, "but you and me, Hisa, we've been through it all. I can't imagine life without you."

"Thank you." She murmured, "Thanks, Byakuya." It was like a new type of brother-sister bonding had surfaced, and she smiled.

"Thanks."

~*~*~*~*~

_How the hell did this happen?_ I wondered, looking at Ichigo, questions reflected in my eyes.

He shrugged, scowled, and finally growled, "_Lesley._"

"_Senna_," I caught on, glaring at the ground. Ichigo and I were in the forest, Wednesday after school, presumably lost. Lesley and Senna, according to their text messages, had _forgotten _something at the dorms.

_Forgetful_ my vertically challenged ass.

"Where are they?" My orange-haired idiot-companion asked, looking around.

"You don't _really_ believe they _forgot_ something, did you?"

"Of course not! But I didn't think those two would be stupid enough to send us out here, in the middle of the woods, a good few miles away from the school, where there's _no cell phone connection_," He growled the last part, glaring at his phone.

I stared at my Samsung Gravity. He was freakin' right.

_No signal._ The red letters glared at me sourly. I frowned.

"Sorry," I said, before I could stop the words. He looked at me oddly.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry." I repeated, a bit bolder. "I've… I may have been… a _bit_ of a… you know, a bitch. To you. Lately." It was _so true,_ but I _never_ apologized to bastards like Ichigo.

"Yeah, you were."

"Yeah, I know—wait_ what_?" I looked at my companion incredulously. "A-ah… I'm _sorry;_ I don't think I heard you _correctly_. Shouldn't _you_ be apologizing, too?"

"Why should I?"

_Why should I?_ The arrogant words rang in my head. "_Why should you?_ Well, maybe 'cause you haven't said a _single_ nice thing to me since we got here!"

"Not true."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I said you ran fast."

_No._ I blinked. "You did not." I said, and it was true. That first day on the track, he didn't say a word about my running. Or any of my athletic abilities, for that matter. "You said nothing about that."

He paused. "I didn't? Oh." After a while, he spoke again. "How about the race, yesterday?"

He was talking about the pool. The class was split in two—boys and girls. I had come in second place. Not bad, but not that good if you knew my record back in Kura. I rocked the track and swimming teams.

"Second place."

His brows furrowed together in confusion. "Third place running and second place swimming? That can't be; you were always so…" He trailed off, looking away.

"So _what_?" I asked, interested. Had he read my file? Had Lesley told him about my records? No. Neither of those situations is possible. Ichigo's job was _not_ looking into his comrade's personal life. That was purely Lesley's job. And plus, Liss would _not_ have said anything. She's too smart to blow it like that.

"Nothing." He changed the subject again. "My phone got a signal," He held up his LG, "I'm calling Senna." He turned his back to me, phone to his ear. "Yeah, hi. Where the hell are you? Kuchiki and I've been waiting forever…"

I looked around, at the lush green forest around us, taking in the decaying leaves, streams of sunlight, and the old, ancient bark. Something familiar clicked inside of me.

"_Oh, whoa. I love this place!"_

_A smile. A chuckle. "That… that's great."_

I blinked, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat. Ichigo looked at me oddly. "Hey, Kuchiki, you okay?" He asked in that gruff tone, the same kind he shared with his mother. I looked at him. Something exploded from within the forest, a heat of some sort. A familiar one. Not dangerous, but not exactly kind, either.

Ichigo seemed to feel it, too. He choked a little on his next words. "Ah, um… this is, uh…"

And I was off.

I ran, ran away from his shocked yell of "Hey, wait!" I didn't know _what in the world_ caused my odd behavior; all I knew was that I needed to get out of that _place_. Fast.

It was sunset, now. A timber wolf howled longingly in the distance, and somewhere inside of me I knew that without Ichigo I was totally and utterly _screwed_.

~*~*~*~*~

"_Mmm, this place, I love it!" A woman squealed, an English accent lacing her strong voice._

"_I thought you'd like it," Her male companion said with a soft smile. "You love the forest, don't you?"_

_She grinned. "Always have, always will."_

~*~*~*~*~

"Rukia!" A voice called my name in the distance, and my head snapped up. I was leaning against a tree, my legs pulled up to my chest, my chin resting on my knees.

"K-Kurosaki?" My own cracked, dreary voice called carefully.

I _was_ imagining things, right?

I wasn't. I could see Ichigo's hair and his smirk not a second later. He stood in front of me, holding out a hand to help me up. I looked up curiously, but took his outstretched hand and with a pull, got onto my feet.

"Man, you _are _a fast runner," He smirked, "Mind telling me _why_ you bolted like that, exactly?" He asked, his voice laced with amusement.

"I don't _know_," I responded truthfully. "I kinda felt like… I, I don't know, I had to." _You didn't feel that? _I wanted to ask, my brows furrowing thinking about that intense heat that had suddenly enveloped the forest. My stomach flitted nervously with butterflies, and my palm rested flat against my abdomen, trying to calm the nervousness.

"Me too. I mean, I didn't run, but I…" He stopped, and stepped closer to me. "You know what? Let's forget it." He held out his hand, "C'mon, I think Senn and Liss might be here with the car."

"Car?"

"Yep. Sophie sent out a car to help us out."

I hesitated, but nodded anyway and grabbed his outstretched hand again. That same heat overcame me, comforting but dangerous all the same. He gripped my hand tighter. His hand was so big compared to my small, petite one.

I followed his lead, like ducklings would follow their mother to a lake. Decayed leaves crunched underneath our feet, and birds chirped happily above us. The streams of sunlight were gone, so it was probably either still sunset or nighttime already. The trees were so thick I couldn't tell.

I looked up at him, and held back a startled gasp. I don't know if it was the renewed memories of Kaien or the nightmares I'd had about him, or some weird thing I'd just noticed, but Ichigo Kurosaki and Kaien Shiba… they, they, they…

They looked exactly alike. Just trade in his unique sunset locks for midnight ones and turn his gorgeously seductive hazel brown irises into a beauteous metallic cerulean.

"Did you hear that?" I asked suddenly, hearing something. I willed the likeness of the two men away. Ichigo is _not _Kaien, I knew. The sound echoed again, and I shivered. It was like a wolf's howl, long and deep and lonely.

"A timber wolf," Ichigo responded automatically.

"Timber wolves don't come out here, this close to civilization." They stayed up, up, close to the mountains. Or in the middle of the forest. Not here, not this close to the road where they could easily be shot or hit.

Ichigo stiffened, but continued his easy stride. I ran to keep up. "Then it's a coyote. Or a fox."

"Foxes don't make that noise," I told him, looking nervous. "And coyotes don't live in this part of the forest."

He sighed. "I'm trying to make you feel better, but you're shooting everything down." He was trying to lighten the mood, but I could hear the uncertainty lacing his voice.

"Let's change the subject," I said, desperately trying to distract myself from the distinct howling in the distance. He nodded. "Family. What about family?" I'd say trying to get away from an elusive creature that sounded a lot like a wolf would be a great time for some comrade-to-comrade bonding.

"I have twin sisters, Karin and Yuzu. They're in middle school. Eighth grade. My mom and my crazy father." I could hear the smile in his tone. He sped up and I nearly sprinted to catch him.

"Hah, that's nice. I've got my older sisters, Hisana and Mitsuki, and my brother Byakuya. Byakuya's Mitsuki's twin. They're both twenty six. Hisa's twenty four." Okay, not long enough of a conversation. The howl's still there.

Still haunting.

"I can still hear it," I said, frightened. "Ichigo, I can still hear it!" I didn't want to admit I was scared, but I was. We were running, now. My hand was clasped tightly in Ichigo's, and I could sense his concern. "Ichigo!"

"Talk about something else. Think about something else," He told me, in a panic-laced voice. "Tell me the poem of Lucy Gray," He told me, and kept running.

_Lucy Gray?_ I thought. I didn't know that poem, I didn't think, but words ripped from my throat, flowing as easily and as smoothly as if I'd spoken it every night since I was seven. Kind of like how _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star _sounded.

"_Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray:  
And, when I crossed the wild,  
I chanced to see at break of day  
The solitary child._

His tense shoulders relaxed, and he broke down to a careful jog.

_No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;  
She dwelt on a wide moor,  
—The sweetest thing that ever grew  
Beside a human door!_

I took a deep breath as our jog slowed even more. I couldn't believe I knew this.

_You yet may spy the fawn at play,  
The hare upon the green;  
But the sweet face of Lucy Gray  
Will never more be seen._

"_To-night will be a stormy night—  
You to the town must go;  
And take a lantern, Child, to light  
Your mother through the snow._

I closed my eyes as our footsteps became slower still, forgetting the frightening creature's howls almost entirely. They were still there, though, and _way_ to close. I skipped the jumble of old-fashioned words that ran through my head, and went to the ones that made the most sense.

_And then an open field they crossed:  
The marks were still the same;  
They tracked them on, nor ever lost;  
And to the bridge they came._

It was dark out, now. But neither of us seemed to care, much. I kept talking, almost whispering the old words.

_They followed from the snowy bank  
Those footmarks, one by one,  
Into the middle of the plank;  
And further there were none!_

_--Yet some maintain that to this day  
She is a living child;  
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray  
Upon the lonesome wild._

Something sad stirred inside me, realizing what the poem's words meant. Hurt. Tragedy. Loss. Things I knew, all too well.

_O'er rough and smooth she trips along,  
And never looks behind;  
And sings a solitary song  
That whistles in the wind."_

"Thank you," Ichigo whispered as he picked up his running again. We sprinted out of the thick trees and the dreadful howling-turned snarling/roaring sounds faded away.

"Hey! Dandelion, Raven!" I could hear Lesley's voice as we got closer to the road.

Ichigo scowled at the nickname.

I raised an eyebrow. _Raven? What the heck?_

"Oh, god, you're okay!" Senna gasped, hugging me and hitting Ichigo playfully on the shoulder. "Thank god, you're both okay."

"You had us worried there," Lesley murmured, but I could hear her. She cast me a soft smile, and looked at Ichigo. She glared at him. "You." She pointed at him. "How _stupid_ can you be? Senn _told_ you," She pointed at the purple-haired girl, "we were coming. Why didn't you fucking stay _put_?"

"She…" He stopped, and shook his head.

"I ran away. He went after me. Sorry." I cut in, ultimately saving him from being beaten within an inch of his life by Lesley. At their questioning looks, I explained, "I thought I heard something. So I ran. Sorry. It's kind of a knee jerk reaction."

Lesley sighed, looking at us both. She looked frustrated. "Whatever. Get in the car. I'm driving."

We walked towards the car Sophia had given us for the case. It was a big black Benz, like the ones you see private detective's riding around in as they stalk people for their clients. Lesley slid into the driver's seat, while Senna slid into the passenger's side.

Ichigo and I hopped into the back.

_Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh…_

_You were talking to her  
But messing with me  
It's finally clear  
You're blurring the lines  
Are you disturbed?  
Oh, now you care  
Why do you race through my red lights?_

The radio blared the song loudly, but my eyes stayed forward, looking past the fuzzy pink fur ball thing hanging from the rearview mirror. Senna looked at her pink lacquered nails. Ichigo was scowling, looking out the window. Lesley's mouth was in a tight line, and she focused on the horizon.

_Can't understand  
I'll slow it down for you_

"Idiots. The both of you. When Senna or I say stay, do us a favor and _stay_." She sounded angry, tired, and most of all, hurt. "When we get back, oh my god, I don't know _what_ Yoruichi will do to you."

"_Yoruichi_? How the hell does she know?" Ichigo asked, infuriated.

"She's not stupid, Ichigo. She's far from it, actually. She knows everything about everyone."

_Tell me how can you sleep?  
How can you breathe?  
Baby tell me how  
How you love me now  
Tell me how can you sleep?  
How can you breathe?  
I hate when you say  
How you love me now_

I sighed, hitting my head against the back of my chair. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to do… I didn't mean to run away."

Lesley took her eyes away from the road, glancing back at me. "Yeah, I'm sure. And I really shouldn't be _too _hard on you… all things considering. I mean—"

"Lesley Barlow!" Senna barked, shushing her friend. "No."

Liss looked at her dryly. "Oh come on. After what I said and why you shushed me, well, I'm just saying that I don't think Kuchiki's that stupid."

"W-what happened?"

Lesley pulled over. We were still next to the forest, and it was nearing nine o' clock on the dashboard. Senna turned the radio off. Lesley started. "Someone from your school's here. You mentioned her in Sophia's office, and she didn't think it was too bad of an idea." The brunette bit her lip.

"But…?"

"Now listen, Rukia. This girl is going to be very good for this case. Recon, you know?" Senna interrupted, smiling sheepishly. She looked away. Lesley sighed.

"Stop beating around the bush. Rukia," She looked at me, totally ready to tell me the most awful news of my young life.

"Her name… is Orihime Inoue."

~*~*~*~*~

**OMG, I'm sorry about that. Was that even considered much of a cliffhanger? Maybe, I guess. **

**Sorry, Orihime haters! I hate her too, but I figure she'd be another good antagonist to the story. Or an ally. I hate to admit it, but without Inoue, most of the Bleach characters would be dead right now. But did Kubo have to make her so damn **_**annoying**_** with all the 'Kurosaki-kuns!'? Well, an extremely good anime has to have **_**one**_** annoying character to stalk the other really good ones.**

…**Did I go too far? Lol, I sorry **

**So… please, please, please review! I'm hoping on… at least… 6-10 reviews a chapter? Please? Or is that too much? Oh, whatever! At least FIVE (1 more than my usual) or I am going to **_**not update**_**. Sorry, but I'm let down by the amount of reviews I'm getting. So… please? Like I said, you people are my counseling! God knows I need more though... lolz, JK!**

**Anyways, thanks for reading!**

**-Tsuki**


	6. Whisper

**Full summary: **_**Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki.**_

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**----------**

**Chapter Five:  
Whisper  
**

_The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts,  
All on a hot summer's day.  
The Knave of Hearts, well he stole those tarts,  
and the mad Queen said,  
Off with his head, off with his head, off with his head~!_  
**-**_**Queen of Hearts **_**from the anime Pandora Hearts**

"Her name… is Orihime Inoue."

My mouth dropped two feet away from my face. Oh. My. God. Even a country away, she has to follow me and _ruin my life_? I opened and closed my mouth, trying to talk—trying to say something, anything actually.

"What the _hell_?"

Okay, not really what I was planning on saying. But whatever.

"You've got to be freaking _kidding_ me." I felt like taking a pencil and gouging my eyes out.

"Inoue?" Ichigo asked. Ugh. Her family name sounded vile coming from his voice. "Oh. Aren't the Inoue's a small vampire clan from Europe?"

"They're _all_ from Europe." I said sourly. "But yes. They're from somewhere in Italy. And Orihime Inoue is a stubborn, obnoxious brat."

"Then why'd you recommend her?" Senna asked, amused.

"I _didn't_." I said. "I was angry. I just wanted to make excuses. I never imagined she'd actually _come_. She hates being away from her palace known as Karakura, Japan for short periods of time. She's a spoiled daddy's girl. You might think I'm being mean, but if you've known her for as long as I have, you'd know the truth."

"I think you're blowing this out of proportion. I've met her; she seems like a good person." Senna said, "She's really nice. And Yoruichi thought so, too. She has a kind of annoying voice, but she really does seem… for real."

"Oh please." I sighed. _I wonder how long it'll take until those boobs of hers finally suffocate her to death._

~*~*~*~*~

"Inoue."

"Kuchiki."

Tension built inside Headmistress Yoruichi's large office.

I looked at the auburn-haired, gray-eyed, porcelain skinned homecoming queen with obvious distaste. My own violet eyes were probing, and I could feel the scowl threatening to consume my face.

Inoue's own frown marred her pretty Miss Universe face, but it wasn't hostile, like normal. More like… a nervous frown, a confused blemish on that normally evilly grinning face. She broke the awkward silence first.

"Okay. Listen up…" She paused, "_Rukia_," She ground out my first name harshly, "If we're gonna make this whole deal work, we _have_ to get along, and I mean, _actually_ get along. Not some best-friendy type thingy in front of Yoruichi and our comrades, and then resort to strangling each other the minute we're left alone." She crossed her arms in front of her perfect—*cough* massively huge *cough*—breasts, waiting.

I bit my lip, and then pointed at her chest.

"How do you not have back problems?"

Inoue's jaw dropped. Senna and Lesley smiled, giving each other discreet high-fives. Ichigo sighed exasperatedly, slapping his forehead against his palm. Yoruichi stifled a giggle.

"Okay, okay. I deserved that," My auburn-haired rival admitted begrudgingly. I raised an eyebrow. "I have been a little… rude to you. For forever, I know."

"A _little_? A _little_ rude? You're downright evil, Orihime!" Hisana always said I had trouble letting people down easy. "You put a lizard down my back in kindergarten," I held up my hand, ticking off every malicious detail as I spoke.

"You poured apple juice on my head in first grade, you let the class hamster escape and blamed me in second grade, in third grade you hit me with a tetherball every recess, in fourth grade you pulled my hair almost every day, in fifth grade you put a 'kick me' sign on my shirt, in sixth grade you put worms in my gym locker, oh, and who could forget seventh grade when you—"

"Okay, Ruki, I think she gets it," Lesley interrupted, smiling nervously. "Let's just stop the fighting. For a little bit, okay?"

"Fine." I sighed.

"I'm sorry," Inoue said finally, her hands moving to her hips. She shifted from foot to foot. "I am. And I know just saying that won't fix things. But I'm here, I accepted this, and you know as well as I do that when I put my mind to something, I have to stick it through."

I did. It was one of the many annoying traits we shared.

"Okay. Fine." I shook her outstretched hand. "This… doesn't mean we're all buddy-buddy now, right?"

"Of course not," Inoue grinned, shaking her head. "As soon as this whole thing is over with, we can hate each other again."

"Thank God."

~*~*~*~*~

"Miyukiko," Mitsuki tries to say over her boss's secretary's frantic voice.

"_A-an extra week? Ms. Kuchiki—oh, oh, oh… I don't think Ms. Warren will be too pleased…" _Miyukiko stuttered, her normally cool façade dropping at the thought of defying her boss.

"Sorry, Mia," Mitsuki apologized, scanning her eyes over the website displayed on her laptop. She'd been on the computer non-stop for the past week. "Tell Avery I'll make it up to her later, okay? She owes me anyway. Ask her if she remembers that incident with the monkey and her cousin Aramaki. Go ahead, ask."

Aramaki Makizou was the very timid, very mousy-looking cousin of Mitsuki's boss, Avery. He was really, very nice, but a little, ah, _eccentric_. Yeah, that was the word. And about the monkey…

Let's just say it involved Mitsuki's friend Ayaki, a blind date, and a trip to the zoo.

"_O-okay,"_ Mia stuttered, hanging up.

"Poor kid," Mitsuki shook her head. "If she's so terrified of Ave, why doesn't she just quit? Or leave for another department, at the very least. Hell, Ave and I can _trade_ secretaries. I wouldn't mind," She smiled. Her own secretary, Kazai, was not very nice. At least to her, anyway. No respect, at _all_.

"Oh well. Life just works that way sometimes." She stared at the castle-like building on the computer screen, eyes unfocused.

~*~*~*~*~

The next day, Thursday, I walked into Kyoraku's class. Loly and Inoue were chatting away happily, Menoly trying to look friendly. She seemed a little jealous that her best friend found someone else, though. I shook my head.

I knew those two would get along great.

Adrian walked up next to me. "Hey, Kuchiki," He greeted, flashing his pearly whites. I smiled.

"Hey Adrian. I never thanked you for showing us around the school that first day, did I?"

He grinned and waved me off. "Oh, it's fine. You're friends Senna and Lesley thanked me enough already." He smiled. "They're certainly… friendly, aren't they?"

"Yeah. They're both awesome." I responded, taking my seat. He slid into the empty desk at my left. I could feel Nel's eyes on my back, burning holes through my shirt. I tried to ignore her.

"Mmhm." He kept staring at me, a smile on his face. I think my face flushed at one point. He was cute, yeah. Like really, super cute. And _any_ girl would melt like putty if he stared at you like he was staring at me. I struggled to keep my composure. "Your friend… Senna… I was just wondering if she knew about the Spring Formal, yet."

"I'm sure she does. From what I heard, she was Harrington's own Gossip Girl." I laughed. "Why? Are you gonna ask her?" Wow, do I feel bad for Lesley. Hopefully she'll be too caught up with work to really notice.

"I've been thinking about it." He said, smiling. "You think she'd be interested?"

"Yeah, most definitely." I smiled, nodding. How could she _not_ be excited? Hot guy, spring formal, frilly dresses… it'll be heaven on Earth for her.

"Okay, nice. I'll ask her. Hey, are you going? It's in like, a month, at the end of March, but I think you should go. It'll be fun."

"What can I say?" I smiled, "I'll think about it, kay?"

"Cool," He nodded, and grinned perfectly. He walked back to his desk, and before Nel could pounce on me, demanding information, Ichigo stepped up with a scowl on his face.

"What the _hell_ was that about?" He demanded, glaring at me.

I scowled. "What do you mean? And _why_ should I tell _you_, of all people?"

"Maybe because, oh, I don't know, I'm your _partner_ for this case." Wow, was he pissed off. I blinked my blue eyes, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Oh, was Ichi worried 'bout me?"

"Please," He scoffed, "Like I'd be worried about _your_ stubborn midget self. I'm worried about the _case_. Nothing weird's been going on, but we should keep our guards up. And flirting around with pretty boys does _not_ help us." He was speaking in hushed tones, but I could feel Inoue and Nel's eyes on us. The rest of the class was oblivious.

"Oh yeah, well I—" I was cut off by my phone buzzing in my jeans' pocket. Ichigo looked over my shoulder, mildly interested.

**To: Chasing Sky**_** (Hi, yeah, EMERGENCY TEXT!!!!!)**_**  
From: xoxoGossipGirlxoxo**_** (OMG IT'S BAD!)  
**_**Subject: Didn't I just freaking tell you?! EMERGENCY!!**

_Oh hell, Rukia! It's really weird! OK, so me and Hisagi were in chemistry this morning, right? Right. Okie-dokie, so do you remember that super-duper smart guy? Maki? Yeah, he DIED!! Just like Aria did! I swear, only two days since Evangeline came back to school and already it's happening again? She was so upset she has to see a counselor now (or so I've been told). It's so weird… it leaves me wondering who'll be next. Oh, and you haven't texted me back yet. Just call me later. After school alright?  
LOL c ya! Or tlk 2 u, I guess._

"Another one?" Ichigo's incredulous voice asked as I reread the text an extra four times, hoping I was freaking _wrong_.

I texted her back quickly; class would start soon. In like, five minutes.

**To: xoxoGossipGirlxoxo **_**(Hey.)**_**  
From: Chasing Sky **_**(Is everyone ok?)  
**_**Subject: RE: Didn't I just freaking tell you?! EMERGENCY!!**

_Hey, Rukia here. OMG that's awful. I hope Eve's ok. Tell everyone I miss 'em and to BE CAREFUL.  
I'll tlk 2 u guys later, kk?_

"Why do texts always make it seem like you're being sarcastic or you don't really care?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know." He eyed Nel's advances to get up. "I'll talk to you later. After class. We'll skip out on history and head to Yoruichi's to talk about this." His voice was a husky whisper in my ear. I had to bite back a tremor threatening to run through my body.

"After class." He left for his seat.

"What was _that_ about?" Nel whispered to me. Thankfully our conversation was so quiet even Nel couldn't hear us.

"Nothing. Ichigo's a good friend of mine," I lied. "We're seeing the Headmistress next period. I don't know what for, though. The other transfers did the same yesterday. And the day before that." That was a pretty good lie, considering I don't do it so often.

"Oh. Aw, man, you're gonna leave me all alone for gym, aren't ya?"

"Nah," I smiled, "maybe the first half. But that's it."

She scoffed. "Lucky bitch."

~*~*~*~*~

"Another one?"

"Yeah. His name's Kazuya Maki. Quiet, kind of reserved, usually kept to himself, and a total neat freak. Straight A's and I can't think of any reason someone might have to kill him. Totally random, like Aria's murder."

"Being soulless is a very strange occurrence," Yoruichi murmured. "It's not normal at all. Before this, the last known time was in eighteen forty two," She smirked, "Or so I've read."

"Who was it?" Ichigo asked nonchalantly.

"I don't know. A noble's daughter and a few more. Happened a lot here in Europe. Mostly Spain, here, in England, and the Northeastern part of the United States." She twirled a piece of pin-straight violet hair between her fingers.

I bit my lip.

"Your mother had her meeting with the queen today. Alexandra's not very pleased by the sudden news flash," Yoruichi deadpanned, looking at Ichigo. "How 'bout your father? Where's he?"

"My dad's been retired from the Guardianship for eight years now. He's a college professor on sabbatical." Ichigo muttered, running a hand through his sunny locks of hair.

Yoruichi burst out laughing. "Isshin _Kurosaki_ is a _college professor_? Pfft, I'd have to see it to believe it. So now he's taking care of your sisters, right? Yuzu and Karin?"

"Yeah."

I felt like they were drifting away from the topic at hand. I shifted from foot to foot. I just wanted this to be over with. I just wanted to find out what the hell was happening to these people, what killed Maki and Aria, and be done with this and go home so I could have a somewhat normal existence.

"So, what's our next plan?" Seriously, even with all the precautions and half the teachers aware of what's happening we're getting nowhere. Fast. I crossed my arms over my chest; half hoping Yoruichi and the others would just give up and send us home.

But then again, fate just loves to mess up my existence, doesn't it?

"More guardians. More security, of course." Yoruichi's secretary—Soi Fon, I think—said with a sigh.

"Actually, no." Yoruichi grinned, looking like a cat. "This is mostly supernatural. Souls are being traded away—sent away to the Netherworld because of something. Being Soulless is extremely rare, and usually only happens when you're in a reincarnation bind or meet your death prematurely."

Reincarnation binds are something priests and priestesses usually use, to keep souls here. On Earth. For Eternity, never meeting a happy end. I shuddered.

God, I'd never want _that_.

"No. Aria wasn't in a reincarnation cycle or anything like that. Rangiku would've known. And Kazuya wasn't even _magical_!"

"He was human?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah—" I'm cut off as my phone beeps again, signaling a new message.

**From: xoxoGossipGirlxoxo  
To: Chasing Sky  
Subject: RE: RE: Didn't I just freaking tell you?! EMERGENCY!!**

_Death's everywhere, you know. YOU be careful, ok? People are dying left and right here in Kura. Apparently, two more deaths (not counting Maki's) happened since Aria. Can't believe we're just now hearing about it.  
-Ran_

"Two more. Humans, probably." I said, looking at the text from Rangiku. This was so weird. "I know it's happened in Kura, Yoruichi, but what about here? Anything here?"

Yoruichi stared at me, her yellow eyes cold and calculating. "About two months ago. A boy named Kei died in the locker-rooms. The doctors said it was nothing more than the after-effects of an illness discovered too late. It's all we know."

Ichigo began. "If it _is_ supernatural, though, why send us? Why not Ingrid? Kira?" Ingrid Russo and Kira Izuru were the top guardians in charge of Wyvern; the security no one notices.

"Because you four already have experience. Rukia with Aria, Senna with her father, Lesley with her brother, and you. Orihime's just here because little miss whiner over here recommended her."

Ignoring the jab, I remembered something Lesley had said on the plane.

"_I have my brother. Andre."_

So, his soul had been stolen? And Senna's dad, too. That explains why she's so dependent on Ichigo. He's probably the closest person who'd ever stood up for her the way a father would. And what about Ichigo…?

I shook my head. "So, why _are_ we here, Yoruichi? I don't see why we're needed."

"Like I said, you have experience with these situations. That will help the guardians do their best possible job. Sophia recommended you because you are trustworthy and skillful. She was told so not just by Byakuya, but also myself, and Gin Ichimaru."

"Gin _Ichimaru_ recommended this midget?" Ichigo asked, looking at me incredulously.

"Okay, you know what, I've been hearing his name since I learned what 'soulless' was. Who the hell is this dude?" I asked, hands on my hips. The bell rang, and history was over.

"First of all, Miss Kuchiki, language. Second of all, he's one of the youngest and most prestigious fighters the Guardianship has ever known. Third of all,"

"He's my mother's student." Ichigo growled. "He's creepy as all hell, but lemme tell you, I'm just glad he's on our side. He once beat her during a practice session leaving her with nothing but a broken leg and her head still attached to her body."

I tried to imagine creepy, lanky, Ichimaru up against tough-skinned, no funny business Masaki Kurosaki. In my mind, she won every time. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No, he isn't," Yoruichi grinned, showcasing her sharp, white canines. "I was there. Masaki was off active duty for a month and a half while she recuperated."

"Dang," I whistled, impressed. I still thought Ichigo's mom kicked ass, though. Gin may have been tough, but he was sure as hell creepy.

"Speaking of your mother, Ichigo," Yoruichi smiled, "She called. She told me she and Monsieur Ichimaru were flying in this weekend. Saturday morning, seven o'clock sharp. Masaki wants you to be there, in front of the school. Gin requests Rukia there, too."

"What the—why me?!"

"I don't know. He says you 'exude power'." Yoruichi winked one of her feline, orange-yellow eyes. They were like moonlight on her dark skin. "If you ask me, I think he just likes you."

"Ew." Ichigo and I grimaced in unison.

"No, actually, it's quite acceptable. He's only… twenty three, actually. You're turning eighteen soon, aren't you?"

"Not really. Next January." I still thought it was freaking creepy. He looked like a snake, as childish and odd it sounded. "But, on a lighter note, we missed half of gym class!" I looked at the clock.

"Make it _all_ of gym. I called in your friend Lesley. You know how she was in charge of learning about every magical student in the school? Well, it's time she shared a bit. She's also going to be sharing more Saturday morn', with your mother." Yoruichi sighed, leaning back in her big black leather office chair.

~*~*~*~*~

"You liar!" Nel whined at lunch. We'd never really hung out outside the classroom, but she was a good friend that reminded me eerily of Rangiku. "You left me all alone during gym! Grimmjow had to be my partner for sit ups. Do you know how awkward that was?"

"Probably very," I smiled. "Sorry. Yoruichi kept us a bit longer than I'd planned."

"S'okay. But Grimm and some of my friends are heading out for lunch. A little eatery called Carly's opened up across the street. It's like, totally 50's motif. You wanna join?"

"Mmm, sorry, wish I could. I feel like Italian today, so the others and I are heading out to that little restaurant by the sushi place. You know… uh, Mona's, I think it's called." I tried to think of its name, biting my lip and wondering if it was Mona's or Mina's. This was one of the good things about Wyvern's. Hour and a half long lunches and over three dozen restaurants in and around the campus.

"Oh, okay. I heard the breadsticks are to die for. Care to grab me one?"

I smiled as we parted ways. "_Bye_, Nel!" I shook my head, making my way to the little warm-homey-feely-candle-and-fat-waiters-with-round-bellies restaurant, where the others were most likely already waiting.

~*~*~*~*~

"Are we _all_ going to Yoru's meeting tomorrow? Or just you, Strawberry, and me?" Lesley asked me later that day, after school. Her Ugg's pounded heavily against the gravel, and she shivered from the cold. Her brown hair flew every which way, covering her face and her eyes.

She was texting someone, Senna probably, and she looked a lot like a movie character being filmed in a bustling city. …Without the people, of course.

I ran a hand through my black locks, which probably looked like a total train wreck right now. Stupid English wind. "I hate London. I _hate_ the wind."

"That's funny," Liss said, but stopped. She sounded like she was going to say something else, but stopped herself short.

"What's funny?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just remembering a joke, that's all. Haha," She smiled, and we kept walking. "So, yeah, about the meeting tomorrow?"

"Huh? Oh, um, I don't know. I think it's just us. Kurosaki and I seem to be the main people wanted there, and you… it's _your_ info."

"True." Lesley shrugged. "You think that Ichimaru dude's scary?"

"Yeah." I nodded vigorously. "He smiles so creepy!"

"I know. Senn and I think it's permanent."

"It probably is."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ichigo," Masaki said professionally, trying to be business formal, but she couldn't help the large grin that took over half of her face. Her long hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and she was wearing a top that was unrecognizable under a cute black jacket, perfect for London's almost-spring-but-not-really weather, and blue jeans.

"Mom." Ichigo nodded to her, doing a much better job at being professional. He couldn't stop his smile, though. "Gin," He nodded to her subordinate, all traces of mirth or humor gone, replaced with a light scowl and repulsion hidden behind his eyes.

I nodded to them both, and Lesley followed my lead.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"We're not sure."

"What do you _mean_ you're not sure?"

Okay, two words. Freaking. Scary.

…Masaki, I mean. Do _not_ piss her off in a drastic situation. Like this one. You know, where lives are at stake.

Lesley sighed, giving Yoruichi a somewhat warning look. "Don't push her, Shihoin." She murmured, looking serious enough.

Masaki's brown eyes narrowed into slits. "Listen to Barlow, Yoru. You're a good friend, but I have to put my foot down. Ichigo and his friends are too young for their minds to be so messed up."

"Not true. They accepted, and they knew the consequences."

"Not Kuchiki!" Masaki pointed at me. She was obviously worried about our mental stability if we went through with this. "Did you? Lesley and Ichigo have much experience, being involved in tons of drug busts at Harrington's over the years; and Senna's parents trained her from an early age. But what about you? Are you okay with this?" Her eyes were probing me worriedly, begging for an answer. Silently she told me she'd accept whatever I said.

I sighed shakily, looking from face to face, each one questioning.

"…Not at first. I was… _scared_, to be so far away from home. Covered it up with insults," I looked at Ichigo apologetically; "I tried to distance myself. My mind was stuck on what the heck had happened, so fast." I sat back, tapping my Converse-covered foot against the office's hardwood.

Ichigo looked at me. His eyes were calculating, but not cold.

Lesley was seated near Yoruichi, who was next to me. They were both waiting on still breaths.

"…Rukia?" Lesley's concern shone through her soft, worry-filled voice.

"Miss Kuchiki. What else?" Yoruichi's voice. Gruff, but still a little high.

"I've decided that I'm staying." I attempted a smile. "I'm not a quitter, Masaki." There was no need for formalities between us. I know, as a mother, she wants to keep me as normal as a banshee can be. We're the closest to humans, and don't take too fondly of change.

"I am staying. No giving up. Not for me." I said the words quickly, no hesitation in my voice. I was willing to work, and I mean really work. Not just some half-assed stunt.

"Good," Masaki was obviously pleased.

Gin looked at me with his creepy smile growing wider by the millisecond. "Yes, yes it is."

Ichigo nodded at me, impressed.

I flushed. What the _hell_ is matter with me? For God's sake—he's… I barely know him! He's nicer than I originally thought, sure, but… I don't know him, and it's not like me to fall for a guy so quickly!

Something in my chest jerked.

"Bloody hell," I whisper. Something felt weird. …Wrong, almost. My heartbeat quickened erratically. It pounded in my ears, and my breathing sped up into short, wheezing pants. Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god.

Masaki perked up; "Hmm? What was that, Rukia?"

"Nothing," I say, getting up as I feel a partially familiar wave of nausea overcome me. "I've got to go. I'll be back in time for the second half of those files," I say quickly, running out the door. Soi Fon opens the oak door quickly, letting me out.

---

I walk back in the office, standing tall to preserve some of my dignity. My feet drag, though.

"Rukia," Lesley's insistent and sweet voice rings loud and clear in my foggy mind. My eyes are hazy, cloudy, a blur of purple and blue on my face.

"S-so—" My voice drops, like I'm about to break down and cry. I almost do, but Ichigo's arms wrap around my small frame as my knees buckle. My dead weight ends up bringing us both to the floor.

"Oi, Kuchiki, stand up!" He sounds so worried. I hear people stand up, walk over to us. "What's the matter?"

My voice is a whisper. A harsh, cold whisper as rain starts pattering against the window.

"S-someone's dead."

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Sorry 'bout that. *Smiles awkwardly***

**I know this story may seem really high-schooly, but that's only cuz it's building up to the good parts! If you've read any of the books I've listed up near the 'Inspiration' thingy on the top, you'll know how these books work.**

**OH, AND ONE MORE THING!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Okay, so I've got a new poll up, and I want your input. Inoue Orihime; should she be a friend, or foe?!  
And speaking of the whiny Ichigo-stalker, I've got a new fic about her. And even though it's HER oneshot, I just had to have IchiRuki in there, too!! So, please read that one, too!  
**

… **Not really much more to say except I luvz u all, thankies~ and…**

**PlEaSe ReViEw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	7. Jump, Push, Fall

**Full summary: _Every time Rukia screams, someone dies. It's what banshees do, whether they like it or not. But when the friends she grew up with since childhood begin dropping dead, it's up to her to figure out what's wrong. Not to mention she has to control the ever-growing lust for the one idiot who can help her, Ichigo Kurosaki._**

**Rating: M**

**Inspiration: _Soul Screamers Series_ by Rachel Vincent, _Slow Goodbye_ by Lesley Roy, the WB show _Charmed_, _Vampire Academy _by Richelle Mead, _Strange Angels _by Lili St. Crow, _FALLEN _by Lauren Kate, _Need _by Carrie Jones, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**Chapter Six:  
Jump, Push, Fall **

_September saw a month of tears  
and thankin' God that you weren't here  
to see me like that  
but in a box beneath my bed  
is a letter that you never read  
from three summers back  
it's hard not to find it all a little bitter sweet  
and lookin' back on all of that, it's nice to believe_

**_Tim McGraw_**

"S-someone's dead."

Ichigo's hold on me tightened.

"Jesus _Christ_," Lesley groaned, her palm coming to rest on her forehead. "Who?"

"I don't know," I gasped. "They're not soulless. I wouldn't be… wouldn't be…" Wouldn't be feeling this way, at all. My chest would've hurt a bit, like my heart was pounding harder than usual, but that's all. Just a small jerk at my heartstrings. Nothing more, nothing less.

A scream bubbled up inside my throat, and it threatened to come loose. It came out as some sort of choked, half-cry, half-shout. Ichigo whispered my name and held me tighter, probably trying to keep the scream where it belonged; down my freaking throat.

This is what happens when I try to hold back. My chest begins to ache like crazy, my eyes all hazy and teary. I get unimaginably weak, and I think it's better to just scream bloody murder instead of struggling to keep it in my mouth.

"Shh, Ru-ki-ah." He broke my name into short, simplistic syllables. "Shh. It's okay. Everything's okay, now. Calm down." I closed my eyes.

I did. The pain of the deceased's killing died down some.

"Go," I told them, too tired to say much else. "Whoever it was is close. Find them before someone else does." My eyes opened as they all tracked out. I didn't know why five people had to go at once to retrieve a dead body, but whatever. Yoruichi, Soi Fon, Lesley, Gin, and Masaki trailed out, Ichigo still holding me like a freakin' lifeline.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a moment.

"I'll live."

"That didn't answer my question." He looked at me dryly.

I blinked. "Sure it did. I'm well enough to live."

"Yes, but are you _okay_? Hurting, I mean."

"_Hurting_?" I laughed. "Hell yes, of course!" What was supposed to be another laugh came out as a rough cough. "I always hurt after one of my episodes. But it's okay. The pain usually subsides after a moment."

"'Usually'? What happens if it doesn't?" He sounded worried.

"Then I hurt longer." I responded with a soft smile. "I'm fine. Just a little sore throat, and some pains in my chest. Like a super quick heart attack. …At least that's how my sister described it," I laughed a little, remembering when Hisana said that.

"That doesn't help me."

"Well, of course not. You're a Dhampir. Half human, half vampire. Practically indestructible, you know. You can die. But you hardly ever feel it." I smirked. "You wouldn't know about physical pain if it came up and bit you in the ass," I scoffed, trying to build the wall back up again.

I couldn't have him getting close. He was right, that very first day. What if something happened to one of us? I wouldn't want to be a crying, sobbing wreck on his final day. Like my sister was at mom and dad's funeral.

_"Mimi? Mimi?" I tugged at my sister's shoulder. It came up to her mid-thigh, and had heels on, too. It was soaked from the rain, but she didn't seem to care. She was crying. She sniffed, wiping at her eyes, her makeup officially ruined. During any normal situation, she'd be scurrying for the bathroom, determined to fix it. But now, she merely blotted it up with a tissue, in hopes of saving her poor eyes._

_"Yeah, Ru?"_

_"Mama and Daddy…" I felt like such a child calling them that. I shook my head. "Never mind."_

_Mitsuki nodded, wrapping her arms around my shaking frame as Daddy's casket was lowered into the ground. She was taller than I was, so her chin rested on my head and she rubbed soothing circles on my arms._

_"Shh. Hush, hush… Little Child, be not afraid. The rain pounds harsh against the glass. Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here tonight." A choked cry broke off the song my mother used to sing every night._

Shaking away the horrible memory, I looked into warm, amber eyes. They were filled with something—love?—something that made me comforted. Blinking, I smiled.

"I don't," He finally said. "I don't know pain. Not much, anyway. I've hardly seen death in my lifetime. Of course I have, but it's hardly enough to affect me." He started moving his hands up and down my arms, forearms, and then back up to my shoulder blades.

I was suddenly very aware of how intimate this situation was. I felt like I wanted to move away, but couldn't bring myself to do so. I didn't notice my shaking.

"Are you okay?" He asked again.

"I'm _fine_, Ichigo," I say lightly, "I—I get like this when I hold it down. The… the—you know, the screaming."

"Oh." He helped me stand up. I nearly fell. "Alright. I suppose that power of yours can't tell you who just croaked, right?" I shrugged, and he continued. "I guess not, huh?"

"Of course not. We're Soul Screamers, not psychics, you know." This was the first time I'd ever referred to myself as a Soul Screamer. But I found it fit me, quite nicely, actually. I found it fit all screamers nicely.

Soul; the bond that not only ties our spirit, our being, to our body and the world around us, but to one another. A soul is immortal, no matter what. The body will fade, it will wither, it will crumble, and it will be eaten away by worms and insects. But the soul lasts forever and always.

Screamers; Banshees and sirens. We scream to live. We're empaths, we feel the emotions of others and scream so loud we split arteries and curdle blood. We can't control it. It just happens, and I wish it didn't.

Lesley ran back into the room, slamming the door open. "Okay, so the person that died? You'll never believe it."

* * *

"Ingrid Russo and Izuru Kira," Masaki read off. "Ingrid's throat was slashed, and Kira's in intensive care." She shook her head. "Rouge student got sick of the security because it was messing up his or her 'fun'. Decided to get rid of 'em. Happens a lot. Here, anyway."

"No," Lesley interrupted, her voice hard. "Helloooo? Ingrid, sliced up like a fish with an _athame_, smart-sickle-stick." Athames were ceremonial tools used to direct energy from their target. "Kira, slashed up like Andy's leg in _Texas Chainsaw Massacre_. You see the difference? No _way_ would a _student_ do something so freakin' awful just for some fun around campus," Liss reasoned, sitting down.

"I don't see it. I'm sorry."

Masaki sighed heavily. "Then _what_? Who would it be, if it's not a student?"

"It's someone who doesn't want us snooping around," Lesley immediately said. "Someone who's not willing to give up. Someone who…"

"Someone who likes being soulless," I finished in a hoarse whisper. "Whoever did this is _killing _them."

"Don't go making assumptions, now," Lesley said, in her usual southern drawl. "I'm just sayin' that we shouldn't be placing the blame on another person's head." She smiled softly. I do not like that smile. It makes me think she's either hiding something, or she's trying not to tell me anything.

Like it'll protect me or something.

Masaki sighed again, but it seemed more reserved. Like she's giving up on arguing. And she was. "Okay. Well, you guys be careful." She turned to look at Yoruichi, hazel depths blazing wildly. "If my boy or any of his friends die or get hurt, I'll kill you." Her eyes narrowed some more. A cold, spidery hand on her shoulder interrupted her.

"See you later. We're going back home," Gin's slithery voice echoed, and I had to suppress a creeped-out shiver.

"Home?" Home meant two things; _real_ home, or a Guardianship Meeting.

"Home, yes. I'm going back to L.A, to see your father," Masaki smiled at Ichigo.

"Tell Zuzu and 'Rin I said hey."

"Will do," She smiled, and nodded at me and Lesley. Her eyes lingered on me for a second, then back to Ichigo. "Will do."

"And _I'm_ going back to Bedford." Bedford, South Carolina. One of the smallest backwater towns in all of the U.S. Population, a little over fifty. Small, and overflowing with your typical working-father-stay-at-home-mom-and-two-young-kids scenario.

I blinked.

"Bye," Lesley waved, trying to avoid Gin's gaze. He was creepy. Those eyes looked like they stared into your soul. But… I'm just being paranoid, aren't I?

They nodded, and walked out the door. This was too weird. Too dreamlike. And why was Ichigo so worried when he's made it painfully obvious he doesn't want to get too close? And why is Lesley making this whole thing feel so achingly familiar?

Why am I thinking about this?

Ichigo's eyes catch mine, and I gasp softly, witnessing something familiar in his gorgeous amber depths. Wringing my hands together, I excused myself and practically ran for my dorm-room. Damn it. What the hell? Why was I so freaked? Ingrid's death. Yeah. That's it. It has to be, damn it.

The aftermath has to be it. It's gotta be. My mind's all mushy as I run into the dark room, slamming the door close. I flick the closest lamp on, a tall one with blue and pink and purple light-bulbs sticking out of the flower-shaped lamp shades.

The room, painted a creamy white, is bathed in an eerie, bluish-white glow, and I feel like I'm the center of a movie. I gasp, flopping on my bed like I'd just run a marathon. Senna wasn't here. Out, with Inoue, maybe. They didn't have a meeting to go to.

I closed my eyes, and voices poured into my mind. Images flashed like the street lights when I'm running late at night, back home. I suddenly want to run again. Run fast, run away.

_A young woman twirled around happily, her long white skirt spinning 'round with her._

_"Rain!" She laughed._

_"You're so childish," Her male companion said with a soft smile. "I can't understand why you'd love the _rain_. It makes you catch cold, and you're all wet later." She stopped dancing, and stared at him, the happy grin still on her face._

_"Maybe, but I like it. And I don't care what you say."_

_He smiled, a hint of amusement, love, and bitterness laced in his tone._

_"You never did."_

I gasped into my pillow again, the one with Chappy the Rabbit prancing all around it. I hugged it to my chest, crying. Panting. Wishing I were dead. Damn it. Damn it all.

Since when did Kuchiki Rukia, ice queen extraordinaire, a bitch like no other, the little lady who knew how to kick ass and take names, _cry_? I bit my lip. No one else died. Why am I so fucking torn _up_? I never knew Ingrid. But something's making me act like this. Like I wanna scream. I almost do, but I bite it back down.

A tear falls down my cheek.

I _will_ not cry.

I will _not_ cry.

I will not… _cry_.

It hits me like a speeding train. Another, overwhelming emotion. Sadness, depression, anger, frustration, and a shitload of other stuff. I hear a knock at the door. I wipe my tears quickly, trying to put my bitchy-yet-so-friendly façade on again. The horrible feeling washes away, but the pain is still in my heart.

"Come in," I hope my voice is monotone.

Lesley's grinning face pokes in. "Hey," She walked in. "You ran out pretty fast. Ich and I were worried. He would've come, but you know the rules… no boys in girl's dorms," She shook her head, sitting next to me. Her face crinkles in a worried frown.

She touches my cheek, wiping a spot below my right eye. "You were crying?" It's a question, but it sounds a lot like a statement.

I jerk my head away. "Ah—no _way_. You're seein' things, Lissa." I can't help a slight sniff, despite my words.

"You _were_! You alright, sweetie?" She's so much like Hisana it almost hurts.

"Yeah, just a little… I don't know, homesick, I guess."

"Call your family. They'd love to hear from you. I just talked to my mom yesterday, actually."

"Your… _mom_?" Her mom, according to her, lived somewhere in Maine. But even Lesley didn't know where.

"Yeah. I was shocked, too. Trust me. She called me, really. And at first I didn't want anything to do with her. But then we got to talking. And she's actually… kind of okay."

I blinked.

"What I'm saying is, don't leave old bridges broken and creaky. You'll regret it."

I thought about it, and then nodded. I peered at the clock. It's only a little after nine, on a Friday night. "You wanna stay? Movie night? I'll call Senn and Hime." Since when did I call Inoue 'Hime'? I didn't realize. Lesley blinked, then smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

"I don't feel comfortable about this," I say the next morning, as Liss and I wander campus. Ichigo's off doing whatever it is he does in his spare time, and Senna and Inoue have taken a shopping trip to the local mall.

"About what?" She asked, polishing off a muffin she brought from breakfast. She sipped her mocha, freshly bought from the Starbucks across from our dorms. She frowned when all she got was whipped cream.

"This," I gestured around. "How can you be so calm?"

Lesley smiled, getting it. She tossed the empty coffee cup into a nearby trash can. "Sophia, Yoruichi, Masaki, and everybody want us to have at least a _somewhat _normal existence. So they tell us to act natural, to go with the flow. To be normal." Her smile grew, and her teeth showed. Perfect and white. Of course. "We react on instinct, and what our higher-ups tell us. Nothing more, nothing less. Other than that, we're normal teenagers."

"O-_kay_," I say, nodding. "That's pretty… good." It was. Normal was all I'd ever wanted. And even though this is _far_ from normal, I pretend it is. For my sanity, I guess. "What was that song, yesterday? It sounds really familiar."

She looks at me strangely. "What song?"

"You know," I say, laughing at her questioning. "That whole—_the north wind doth blow_—stuff."

Lesley opened her mouth, her brows furrowing in a confused manner. "I don't—I don't remember that, Rukia. Honestly, I don't." I stared at her, and found she was telling the truth. "North wind doth blow…" She murmured, "It doesn't ring any bells. I'm sorry." She shrugged a little, and kept walking. I ran to keep up.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought—"

"It's okay," She grinned, "Déjà vu, right? I get it too, all the time. So don't worry so much."

"I'm not worrying. I'm just wondering."

"O-_kay_," She sang. I shook my head and followed her lead. She was fast walking to a place that would take a while to get to, I'm sure.

I stop, thinking something over. Not many things have been going on here. Just two deaths and an injured Guardian. Considering all of the wars breaking out between the magicals, it's not very uncommon. Pixies vs. Vampires, Fays vs. Sirens, Angels vs. Demons, even banshees vs. banshees. Turf wars, feuds, you get the picture. And since we're in the center of magical involvement, death is only natural.

"Are you coming?" My zany friend looked at me curiously.

"I… I don't really think so." I said, cracking a smile. "I… I have to do something. I thought I'd check out the town a little more." London. Ugh. I hated big cities, big places. That's why I loved Karakura so much. So small everyone knows each other.

"Oh, okay." She grinned. "Maybe next time, okay? Don't get lost!" She waved goodbye. Was it an LA thing? Were they all so bipolar? Yesterday, Liss was all Mop-y-Molly, and now she's so happy. But it couldn't be a Los Angeles thing, 'cause Senna seemed normal enough.

I waved goodbye.

* * *

_She was like a boy, he supposed. Rough and callous, she doesn't really care what people think of her. She rolled around in the field, the giant husky dog that went by the name of Bailey rolling about with her, yipping as she laughed loudly._

_"B-Bailey!" She managed between doggy licks and happy laughs. "That's gross! Stop it!"_

_He whistled. "Bailey, come here," He says, all business. She rolls her eyes at him, but smiles as Bailey trots over to him, wags her tail once, and then trots back to her._

_"Ooh, so serious. Even when addressing a dog? You're mother is rubbing off on you."_

_"Better my mother than my father," He scowled, running a hand through his hair. His mother was all business, no nonsense. His father was out of this world crazy. Two very different people, so madly in love._

_Like them, she supposed._

_Bailey wagged her tail happily, her long pink tongue sticking out of her mouth cutely._

_"She's having puppies, you know." She says matter-o-factly, rubbing the dog's still normal-sized-belly._

_"How would you know?"_

_She looked at him dryly. "Because, there are some things a woman just knows. This is one of them." She scratched his father's only female husky lovingly, saying baby-words to the dog._

_"Well, if she _is_ having puppies," He started, sitting down in the field beside her. "You can have one."_

_"My father would be outraged should I bring an animal home," She said, lying down. Bailey licked her hand affectionately. "But Bailey's so cute, I can't resist. Her children will be adorable."_

_"Another thing a woman knows?"_

_She grinned, "Of course. 'Intuition' is what Kari called it."_

_Bailey smiled a doggy smile, resting her head on the woman's abdomen, her tail thrashing happily against the man's arm.

* * *

_

Isn't this supposed to be the age when a girl has the world at her feet?

Fifteen. Learning the way of life, love, and everything in-between.

Sixteen. The thing before the beginning of your life.

Seventeen. When you finally learn.

Eighteen. The dream begins.

Not me. Not when so many horribly awful things had happened to me. My parents. Kaien.

Sometimes I thought Byakuya was so cold because he resents me. Hisana was so careful because she didn't want it to happen again. Mitsuki lived so far away because she hated us now.

_"Why are you leaving?"_

_"Work." Was Mimi's simple answer. She continued packing, throwing stuff in her suitcase._

_"…Is it me?"_

_She looked at me, her blue eyes wide. "No." She said sternly, pushing away the suitcase, getting up from her bed and kneeling down next to me on her bedroom's white-carpeted floor. "No, no, no, oh baby girl, no way. Don't ever say that Rukia. I don't want to hear that from you okay? You did nothing wrong."_

_"But… I…"_

_"You didn't do anything bad, Ru." She hugged me. Nothing wrong, huh?_

_…Yeah, right._

Byakuya.

_"You don't hate me, do you?"_

_"Mitsuki told me you asked her that," Byakuya said, a little emotion in his normally stoic voice. "I don't want to hear you ask again, you hear me? No one blames you. No one _will_ blame you. It was a freak accident, okay?"_

_"Okay." I say hesitantly. Maybe it was just me. Maybe I'm the only one blaming myself._

Hisana was Hisana. Only way more overprotective.

_She'd cry on me every night. Hug me. Tell me how lucky she was to have me as her baby sister._

When Kaien died, everyone understood. They felt sympathy, and like my family, no one blamed me.

_"Poor Kuchiki."_

A few people suspected, but never acted.

_"You… you think she…"_

_"No way! She loved him too much. Even Miyako was shocked."_

So, in time, I pushed all those god-awful memories away. I never talked about them, and neither did anyone else. I was happy, and we forgot. We don't talk about it, we pretend it never happened.

But it did.

* * *

_Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump._

Impulse.

That's another word for desire.

_Ba-bump, thump, thump, thump._

My heart beats erratically as I run. Running feels really good. Banshees are just like humans, in actuality. We're just psychics, just empaths. We just feel more. And like most humans, running comes as an irresistible addiction.

Swimming feels awesome, too. Like you're drowning, but you come back up before you're heart starts burning fatally. At least that's how I do it… almost dying when I swim. An overpowered butterfly, a breast stroke that makes your lungs plead for air.

_Thump, thump, thump ba-dump._

Trees whizz past me as my legs go into overdrive.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, lub-dub…_

My heart slows down a little as I ease into a light jog. _Tim McGraw_ by Taylor Swift blasted into my ears from my iPod. I've never really liked country, and I'm awfully sure Hisa was the one who downloaded this one.

I kept jogging, not really tempted to change the song. Hopefully I wouldn't get lost in the woods. Again.

I stopped, the adrenaline in my system slowing. "Holy crow," I say, gasping for air. My lungs are burning. People look down on Screamers because of how human we are. I run a hand through my hair. It's so dark out.

I do not like the dark.

A hand on my shoulder almost makes me scream. Almost.

I whirl around, ready to punch a creepy rapist/murder person, but let out a relieved breath when I realize it's only Ichigo.

"Ichigo," I say, a little unnerved he's here. "What're you doing here? Are you nuts?" It's almost curfew, on a Saturday, and I'm right along the edges of the creepy forest that surrounds the school. The branches feel like they'll grab you at any moment.

"I think I should be asking you the same," He replies peevishly, like he's annoyed. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Running."

"That's not safe."

"I know."

He sighs. "I hate you." He doesn't. Not totally, anyways. "You're so damn stubborn. Have you always been this way?"

Something in me says he knows the answer. It says he knows everything about me, but not in a creepy-stalker way. More like a comforting, I-understand-you way. "Sort of," I say truthfully. People usually think of me three ways; bitchy, stubborn, or partially-disturbed. Sometimes all three.

"Hn," He grunts. He's still annoyed. I roll my eyes.

Familiarity crashes on me like rain. I blink as we walk back to campus. How far had I _gone_? "That day in the forest," I say, almost mechanically, "…Did you, um… feel that? That… I don't know?"

He looks at me, surprised. But then he relaxes. "I… I'm sorry?"

"That… how do I describe it?" That really wonderful feeling? That emotion that makes my heart ache like you're hurting me, but you're really not? Is that how I should describe it?

"That… that _feeling_," I finally settle on a word. I shrug as we start to walk aimlessly around campus. Curfew suddenly doesn't matter much anymore.

I know he understands. He has to, because he sucks in a sharp breath. He's hesitating, sort of. Or maybe I'm just way too observant. Either way, it looks like he's contemplating on telling me something. I don't know what, so I just say: "Tell me." Two words. Two words and worry flutters uncontrollably in me.

"I don't know," He answers, and he gives me eyes that make me want to believe him. Suddenly I forget almost everything, except that feeling—the feeling of absolute bliss, no worries, no troubles, no—

I stop. Take a step back. "You—you bastard!" I screech, almost comically. He seems to think so, because he starts chuckling. "H-how… how _dare_ you! Kurosaki, you're so mean!" I say, stomping my foot on the ground. "_Impulse_? Seriously? What are you, five?" Impulse is one of a vampire's most common powers—it makes you do whatever they want. Whenever, wherever, whatever.

And I totally fell for it.

That Impulse usage… no vamp, half or otherwise, would use it without knowing the repercussions of using his or her powers on an innocent. He obviously didn't want to talk about that night, and I respected his choice. I'd get the answer; I was sure, but not tonight.

"It's strong."

"Huh?"

"Your Impulsion," I say gently. "It's strong for a Dhampir," I look up at the moon. "I mean, let's be realistic, Impulse… it doesn't come as naturally to you, does it? Not as naturally as Loly or Inoue."

"That's right," He's acting all surprised, like I shouldn't know it.

I smile. "I have three friends who are actually very powerful vampires," I say happily, "Do not underestimate my knowledge."

"I'm not," He laughs.

_Did you know, Ichigo, that you're one of them?

* * *

_

I don't know why he's so familiar. Why Lesley, or Senna, or even Inoue seems so familiar now. All I know is that it might not be bad. But it's not necessarily good.

I have another dream.

Another achingly familiar dream.

_We're in a dark area. A basement, maybe?_

_You're injured, I can see well. You open your mouth, almost like you're about to correct me. But you don't. Instead, you merely smile, and place a kiss upon my lips. It's so soft, so gentle, like an angel's wings just pecking at my lips._

_I lay down, and you're on top of me. It's itchy. Straw? Hay? No, it's sweet smelling and kind of wet. It's grass. My hands reach out, from your hair, onto the ground to feel around. I finally open my eyes. You're staring at me, so lovingly._

_The stars twinkle behind you. The moon shines bright. I'm wearing a dress, a cotton-white nightgown. You're shirtless, but have my brother's oversized trousers on. I trace the scars on your chest._

_"You're hurt," I say quietly. "We can't… can we?"_

_"We shouldn't," You correct me, "But I do not care." Your breath fans my cheeks, my lips… my everything. My hands entangle in your hair._

_"I love you."_

_Something flashes in your eyes._

_You do not respond._

I open my eyes.

I'm sweating, and my throat's sore. It's so much better than my normal dreams, the ones where I'm flying euphorically, and extremely, inexplicably better than my nightmares about my parents or Kaien.

"Who was that?" I ask aloud, and silence greets me. I look over at the clock. It's Sunday, of course, and five a.m.

"Who was who?" Senna's sweet voice asks, as the light flicks on. I blink a few times to get used to the light, and Senna grins. Her violet hair is sopping wet, and she's wearing a black bathrobe with a leaf on it. She's obsessed with leaves and the fall. "Sorry. I just took a bath."

"I see." I smile, "At five a.m.? In this weather? Are you _trying_ to get sick?" I ask her, and throw my covers off. Senna was an early riser, so this didn't surprise me too much. "Anyway, don't mind me. I'm just being weird."

"Ah. Funny dream or something?"

"Mind reader much? But yeah, it's a dream. About a guy."

"Ooh, lil' Ruru has her first crush, huh?" She grins, nudging me suggestively. She pauses, and takes the towel in her hands, ruffling up her hair. "Adrian… Adrian asked me to the Spring Formal, at the end of March." She's blushing. She covers her cheeks with her hands and sighs.

"So soon?" I joke. I'm wondering how Liss will take this. She's really fallen for him over the past week, as silly as it sounds.

"Yeah," Senn groans, jumping on her bed and burying her face in the pillows. "Oh god. What am I gonna do?" Her voice is muffled by the sheets. "Lesley is so in love with him."

High school drama. Psh. _This is why_ I stay out of politics, people! "I don't know. Go for it, Senna." I say, making my bed. Normally I just tuck the sheets up above the pillows, feeling no desire to be a perfectionist. But now I'm checking for every piece of lint, cursing when I miss a wrinkle or something.

"_Go for it?_ Aren't you and Liss friends?"

"Of course. But you're both in love with him. First come first serve, right?"

"I guess…" She still looked unsure. "Won't Lesley hate me, though?"

"No way. She's your friend, and an optimistic girl. She'll love you no matter what, don't you know?" I smiled, missing Rangiku and Renji and Hisagi. I'd call them later. They'd always get into those tiny squabbles that split apart our normally very strong friendship.

"Yes, I do. Thanks."

I nod. Once a peacemaker, always a peacemaker. Shaking my head, I fold the quilt on my bed in quarters. How anal-retentive can I be? I'd always been the first person people went to for dating advice, despite my awful past.

Hisana said it was because of my 'great listening skills' and 'winning personality'.

Whatever.

I looked out the window, thinking of that odd dream. It would rain. The clouds are gray, and my head hurts. It always hurts before it rains. I don't know why, but it does. I zone out as Senn keeps talking about Spring Formal and dresses and makeup and crap like that. She should seriously talk to Orihime about that stuff.

I sigh.

* * *

"Samantha 'Sammy' Hendricks, fifteen. She's a vampire."

"Aren't they all?"

Lesley smiles, posting Sam's picture on the bulletin board in Yoruichi's meeting room, along with her information. "She's beautiful," Liss says, looking at the picture. "Such innocence… can't you see it? Makes me disgusted that a person would take away such a beautiful child's soul…"

I nod. "Um… Adrian asked Senna to the Spring Formal."

Lesley turned around to look at me. She seemed nonchalant—but her eyes said so many things like hurt, betrayal, longing, hatred, self-loathing, and a myriad of other things. "I know." She says. "I'm okay with it."

"Y-You are?" Anybody with eyes could tell it was a lie, but I couldn't help asking.

"Sure. She likes him. How did that old saying go again? –A crush is but that, a crushing heart-breaking theme, leaving us to think right is wrong, up is down, and being absolutely imperfect is absolutely fabulous."

I don't think that's a real saying. I think she just combined a hell of a lot of Marilyn Monroe sayings and made it her own. But I still nod. "You're right. Are you sure you're alright, though?"

"Mmhm, course I am! It's nothing, really. He's just a guy. He's just a guy who just so happens to not be my knight in shining armor." She smiles, and moves on to the next magical teen in the whole stack of files on the table.

"Now… who's next? Ah, Jamie Price, sixteen…"

I frowned.

She's really hurt.

* * *

**Mmm… so, how was it? I guess this chap was boring. Seriously, every single one's been informational, or I was just beating around the bush.**

**NO MORE!!!**

**Haha! Next chapter… something AH-MAZING will happen! And it was underlined, so you know I'm telling the truth! Betch'a can't wait, huh, huh?**

**…That is, unless you've totally given up on my story… *sniff***

**Anyways, remember. Reviews are awesome, especially reviews that boost my self-esteem. Constructive-criticism is ALWAYS welcome, but flames are really rude.**

**So please don't.**

**-tsuki.**


	8. The Truth in the Lies

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, **_**Need **_**by Carrie Jones, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

***NOTE**

**The italics that say, 'But paradise has been locked and bolted…' is not a thought by Rukia, or anyone, but rather a random quoting that sets up the chapter, like the song at the beginning of each update.**

**Chapter seven: The Truth in the Lie**

_**When destiny calls you  
You must be strong  
I may not be with you  
But you've got to hold on  
They'll see in time  
I know**_

_**-You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins

* * *

**_

We were in the library. Inoue and I. I'd spent some bonding time with Lesley and Senna, not to mention more than enough with Ichigo. Now it was Inoue's turn.

Joy.

Clare was at her desk, reading a really old book I didn't even know existed, but aside from her, the library was practically empty. I recognized no one except for one pixie girl who was just leaving. I'd already finished _Wuthering Heights_, and was now reading a copy of _Romeo and Juliet_, which I'd randomly picked up off the shelves.

_But paradise is locked and bolted… we must make a journey around the world to see if a back door has perhaps been left open._

"Rukia," Inoue's soft, sweet voice echoed through the room. Clarisse looked up, probably to shush her, but just smiled and looked back at her book. It's so lonely in here, I don't think she cares. "Are you okay?"

I'm kind of tired of people asking that. I'm tired of people caring. I shouldn't say that, because there are so many others out there who crave it, crave attention, crave somebody to love, and here I am, taking it all for granted.

_I'm so selfish_.

"I'm fine, Orihime," She called me Rukia, so why not? Her name sounded way too sweet on my tongue. It's almost weird. "I'm just… sleepy, I guess."

"Oh. You wanna go back?" To the dorm rooms? Heck no. Senna, Lesley, and Ichigo are out somewhere, and I don't wanna be lonely. A month ago, I would've thought that'd be better than hanging out with Inoue Orihime in a library at ten o'clock at night.

"No thanks." I say, turning back to the book.

"Hey," Orihime says again, "Why… why do you think we hated each other for so long?"

That's a good question. "I don't know," I laugh, "I think it started in preschool. Remember, when I accidentally fell on that wooden-block castle thingy?"

"Oh, yeah!" Inoue squeals, laughing. Clare smiles, but interrupts us.

"I hate to be the rain on your parade, but this _is_ a library, girls." Her words are chastising, but her voice is kind and grandmotherly.

"Sorry, Clarisse." Inoue and I echo in unison. Orihime turns back to me. "So," She says again, conversationally. "That's where it all started, isn't it?"

"Mmm, yup. I think so," I say, getting up from the purple beanbag chair. My voice is a whisper as I push _Romeo & Juliet_ back into its bookcase, right where I found it. I pick up another, a 'teen romance'. These books are all so stereotypical, but I like some of them.

_I'd Tell You I'd Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You._ Wow, that's a long title. It's a spy book. Okay, cooler than books stereotyping magicals.

I flip through it, only mildly interested. I sit back down in the purple beanbag chair. Orihime's wobbling unsteadily on one chair leg, both feet propped up on the table. The window's in my line of view, showing off the pure, round, mysterious, and absolutely, positively, _gorgeous_ full moon.

Orihime's reading _Angels and Demons_. She's read it before. _I've_ read it before. It had been a book report about a year ago, and the only one I actually liked.

"Do you like Ichigo?" She asks me, and I look up at her. Her gray eyes are wide and questioning, almost hopeful. Her mouth is open slightly, like she wants to ask something else. She's begging me to say no, I just know it.

"As a friend," I say half-truthfully, because I don't know _what_ to call my feelings for him. I think I may like him as something more… just a little, anyways. "You like him?" I ask back, and go back to reading. Oh wait… _correction_—_pretend_. I _pretend_ to read.

"Kinda," She blushes, looking down. A boy walks in, and I recognize him from Lesley's copious amounts of well-thought out and detailed files of the magical students. His name's Jay Montague, I think. He's a reaper, I notice with a small raise of my eyebrows. He's tall, well-built, and inhumanly handsome. He's able to disappear and guide ghosts into the afterlife, whether it is by reincarnation, the Netherworld—or Hueco Mundo, as some like calling it—, or Soul Society—heaven, basically—.

"Hello, Mr. Montague," Clare greets him pleasantly. "Anything in particular, this fine evening?"

"Not really, thanks." Jay says, nodding at our perky librarian. He notices us, and smiles. I smile awkwardly back, and Orihime waves happily. He goes off to the 'mystery' section, and we're alone again.

It's really boring.

Orihime shifts in her chair. She slips her feet off the table, stepping lightly on the floor. She stretches, and puts the book away. "Mmm…" the auburn-haired girl groans. "I'm going to the dark romance isle, you wanna come?" She asks. I shake my head, and she shrugs and leaves me.

Maybe our relationship _is_ turning for the better. Maybe we can be friends, for once in our lives.

I continue reading for another fifteen minutes. By the time twenty minutes pass, I'm wondering where Orihime had gone. I feel something, something creeping up on me, like somebody's about to touch my shoulder and kill me.

I turn around, and for a second, I feel like I'm in a bad horror movie. Nothing's there. I breathe shakily.

"Rukia?"

"Ah!" I yelp as I whirl around. Clare's face is only a few inches away from my own, worried and as grandmotherly as ever.

"Rukia, are you alright?"

"H-Huh? Oh, yes. Sorry. I was spacing a little bit, there." That dark feeling is still there. I smile at Clare—before I notice something behind her. I almost missed it.

It's a shadow.

But not a human's shadow.

A demon. It's a demon. And demons hate us. They wouldn't come here just to make friends.

I'm not very experienced with demons or fallen angels. Most of them just want the human race gone, nonexistent, and the 'good' magicals dead. The so-called _nice_ demons/fallen ones try to blend into society, and no one really notices them. They're human to our eyes.

Clare's not human. She's a whisper, so it's okay if I tell her. "C-Clarisse," I say shakily, finding my voice. I point behind her. My hands are shaking. I blink, hoping my eyes are wrong. They aren't. That horned shadow, the shadow with those claws and those _teeth_…

It's still there.

"What's the matter, honey?"

"Look behind you," I finally manage to whisper.

She looks behind her. Her eyes widen. "Alright. Wait here. I'm not sure it's anything, but I'm going to check it out, okay?" She looks at me seriously, and for a minute I feel like a weak, defenseless child.

I watch, stiff, as Clarisse tiptoes behind the bookcases, towards the evil, demonic, _dark_ shadow. It's too dark to be a normal shadow. Too evil to be one of those 'nice' ones. I almost choke on the horribly disgusting aura coming off of that thing in waves. I curl up on the chair, breathing heavily.

And then the shadow's gone. It creeps away, to somewhere else in the library.

My breath catches in my throat.

The second I hear Orihime's shriek—I'm up. I don't even wait and fathom what kind of shriek it was. One of terror? Surprise? What is it?

I run straight to the D's—_dark romance_ section, and her name comes in a whisper. "Inoue?" I say her surname softly, and then her first name. "Orihime? If this is a joke, it isn't funny." I know it's not a joke, because I didn't imagine that shadow, or that aura, or anything.

I hear Orihime's voice a split second later. "Ru—" She's cut off by a long, guttural groan, and I walk towards the sound, a mere isle away, in the 'E' section.

"Orihime!" She's leaning against a bookcase, holding her head in her hands. "Inoue, hey, what happened?"

"I can't remember…" She whispers. She's shaking really badly. I crouch down next to her, half wanting to not touch her in her fragile state and half wanting to hug her like my sister would always do when I was scared. "Rukia… S-something was there. It… burned…" She looks down, at her hand—its red, almost like a burn mark. Her voice is so shaky; I can hardly tell it apart from the overconfident beauty queen from Karakura. A scream resounds through the room, and she jumps. Fear radiates off of her in waves.

"O-Oh my god. Rukia, oh my god. Oh god, oh god, oh god…" She says it like a prayer, over and over again. I pull her to her feet. She clings to my arm like bark clings to a tree.

I huff. "Why the hell do I feel like I'm in a bad horror movie?"

Orihime stays silent. We crept forward, and soon came to Clare and Jay, who were standing ominously still in the middle of the vast library. "Clare?" Orihime called cautiously, "Jay?" Her voice is still shaky.

Clare turned around, smiling ridiculously wide. "Oh! Hello, Kuchiki! Inoue!" She looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed. "Rukia, I told you to stay put." Her voice is only a little chastising. She's giving me that 'scolding mom' look Hisana always sends me when I'm misbehaving.

"Sorry," I smiled sheepishly. "Did you find anything?"

Clare smiled gently. "Nothing but ol' Jay here," She put a wrinkly hand on Jay's shoulder. The teen smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, yeah."

"I think that shadow was just a figment of your tired mind and my old imagination," Clarisse began stacking the books back up. "You three should get some rest. I'll see you later, alright?"

We nodded in unison, and walked out of the old, ancient space.

"Bye," Orihime sang, in her overly-sweet tone. I winced. We may be almost-friends now, but her voice will probably always have that affect on me.

"See you." My eyes said, 'be careful.' Clare nodded once, her old gray eyes gentle.

"Good_night_, girls. Goodnight, Jay."

Orihime and I nodded, and left.

Jay smiled and did the same, but I noticed something.

His smile did not reach his eyes.

* * *

"A _demon_?" Ichigo gaped at me.

"Shh!" I whispered sharply. Mrs. Castile, our slightly-crazed vampire/angel hybrid science teacher shushed us.

"Miss Kuchiki, Mr. Kurosaki. Be quiet and finish your lab."

I nodded, scribbling down 'anaphase' quickly. My eyes darted to meet Ichigo's gorgeous hazel ones. My god, they were beautiful… I blinked. Holy cow, snap out of it, Rukia! Shaking my head, I sighed. "I think it was. It was definitely evil. And… _not human_. Not anything I've ever experienced, either."

"And Orihime was hurt?"

"Not really. More like really freaked out. She couldn't remember anything." I say, quieting slightly as Crazy Castile walks by. "She was… I can't describe it. She was freaking so scared, I felt… I actually felt a little bad. She's lived on the countryside for so long, where everyone knows each other and not many bad things happen, so I don't think she knows how fear works. I've been around other places before… and considering my status, I think it's kind of natural I'd know so many emotions."

His eyebrows furrow. "But… a _demon_? Really? That seems a little far-fetched. Demons haven't come here… they haven't come _up here_ for years… centuries, even. Not since the seventeenth century, I don't think."

"Yeah, but… that shadow. The aura. It's just so… demonic."

"Kuchiki and Kurosaki." Castile's voice rings through the room. "Please. This is the last time I'm going to say it. _Focus_. That conversation does _not_ sound like one about your project." She pats our microscope for emphasis. Smiling, she walks away.

"Why do people call her Crazy Castile, again?" Ichigo murmurs, smiling slightly.

"She's supposed to be really eccentric and flipped out last year when a student dropped his frog on the floor." The bell rang, and a huge sigh of relief—and a few chuckles—echoed through the lab. People started packing up, and two sets of hands slammed down on Ichigo and I's desk.

We looked up.

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo, and Nel looked at me. Something impatient glimmered in their eyes. "Ruru!" Nel whined melodramatically, "You weren't my lab partner today! First gym, now science, you're totally ditching me, girly!" I _did_ feel a little bad; Nel was so sweet, and it kind of hurt me that I couldn't tell her anything about guardians and all that.

Nel's human, I _can't _tell her anything.

"And Ichigo," Grimm's rough voice also seemed a little whiny—maybe even sleepy. "Do you know how _tiring_ it is having this," He jerked his thumb at a pouting Nel, "as your lab partner every day? I can't be surrounded by a bubbly, whiny little girl for an _hour_ every day, buddy!" I didn't really take notice, but Ichigo and Grimmjow have become pretty good friends.

"I _am not _a little girl!" Nel says, "And I'm not whiny, either. Jackass."

"Well, Nel, being a jackass is one of my best qualities." He grins, showing sharp canines. For a whisper, he sure is… daring, a little violent—or _passionate_, as Nel says—, and somewhat of a player. Usually whispers were like Hisagi. Normal. Grimmjow was Grimmjow. Too powerful to measure.

I smiled. "Sorry about that you guys. I've always been a little awful in science, and Ich promised he'd help me out." I laughed, hoping they'd buy it.

Grimmjow's brow rose. He obviously didn't. But Nel growled slightly, getting in my face. "You could've asked _me_ for help, you know! I've won every science fair since I was seven, Ruki. Have a little faith!"

"Oh. Well _sorry_, I didn't know!" I laughed. I looked at the clock. Shit, only three more minutes to get to math. I hate calculus so _damn much_. Shaking my head, I sigh. "C'mon, maybe you can help me in math." I pull on the green-haired girl's sweater sleeve.

"Oh, okay!" She breaks free of my grip and runs ahead of me. I sigh when I hear a teacher's chastising voice.

"Neliel! No running in the halls!"

"Sor-ry!"

I start walking to catch up, but I'm only halfway out the door when I hear Grimmjow's hushed whisper. I haven't been listening to their conversation at all, and he thinks I'm not paying attention.

"She's all you _got_, Kurosaki."

* * *

"_She's all you _got_, Kurosaki."_

Who's _she_?

I'm tapping my foot in math class, sighing gently as the teacher scribbles numeric gibberish on the whiteboard.

_So bored._ My mind says, and I have to agree wholeheartedly. I most certainly wasn't a left-brain thinker. Numbers didn't come to me as quickly as shapes and words did.

"Okay, pair up and work on page three-ninety-four." The teacher said, returning to his computer. Nel pulled her desk up next to mine as I read the text.

_True or false? The two functions f and g defined by f(x) = 3x + 3 for x real and g(t) = 3t + 3 for t real and positive are equal?_

What the hell.

I think my brain just broke.

Nel smiled like she thought I was the silliest thing in the world. "It's false, Rukia." She points at the answer, in her own notebook. _Two functions are equal if their rules are equal and their domains are the same. It's false._

I groan. "Do you have to say it like that? Whatever happened to just guessing and saying 'false'?"

"Teach said you had to explain or show work or there's no credit."

I made a face, slumping in my desk. I glared at my short, balding, moron of a math teacher. "Damn the meatball."

"Ha!" Nel giggled. "Meatball, yeah. That's a good name for him. He's short and bald, and meatball-y!" Shaking my head, I smiled at my friend. She was certainly bubbly, and her fun-loving attitude made it easy to forget life and, like Lesley said, be _normal_.

Nel looked away from me for a moment. "Rukia, I'm so glad you're not a robot and actually _have_ a brain," She winked, "The reason I say this is because I'm just so happy you're not with Loly and Menoly and their crew." She nodded to Miss Not-Congeniality, who was giggling madly with her own group of wannabes.

"Normally people are attracted to her at first glance."

"Well who said I was 'normal'?" I grinned. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty far from it."

"Why don't you like her? I mean, I get why she doesn't like _you_, but why don't _you_ like _her_? Even if she hates a person's guts, and they say they hate hers, her looks kind of make it impossible. But you… the anger's radiating off of you in _waves_. What'd she _do_?"

"Nothing," I say. "And I don't _hate_ her. It takes a lot for me to hate somebody." Like torturing me all my childhood. And even then I was so quick to forgive and accept Inoue. "It's just… Loly's just…" I looked at perfect Loly, mentally comparing her with average old me.

Her, with the long, flowing bluish-black hair. Me, with hair like a crow's feathers.

Her, with the glowing metallic pink eyes. Me, with eyes as blue as the ocean, and just as mysterious.

Her, with the icy eye shadow and frosty white mascara. Me, with nothing but light cover-up and a little lip gloss.

Her, with the laugh. Me, with the scowl.

But that's not what got us. In my eyes, in Nel's eyes, in everyone's eyes, almost, Loly's perfect hair was limp and uneventful in their pigtails. Her glow-y cat eyes were mean and harsh, her makeup told you about the iciness encasing her heart. And her laugh… her laugh was not warm, it was not happy, it was cruel and full of malice.

"Loly is… Loly is cold."

Nel smiled proudly. "Yeah. Exactly, my dear."

* * *

_"__Her death cannot be avoided," A brunette young woman states sadly._

_He stares at her. "Do not remind me… please."_

_The brown haired girl turns to him, slightly astonished. "You care so much." It isn't a question, but it is meant to be one. "Why? Why do you care so deeply for her, when you know it will only end in heartbreak?"_

_"__I do not know." He finally sighs. "It's… I don't know. I feel like one day, she'll finally be mine."_

_"__You're cursed. That day won't come soon, if at all."_

_"__Do. Not. Remind. Me." He turns to look at her. "What name have you taken this time?"_

_She's silent, almost hesitant for a moment. And then…_

_"__Deidre."_

_"__Meaning?"_

_"__Do you have to know a meaning?" She sighs, pushing back some messy locks of hair. He nods wordlessly. She scowls at her friend. Colleague. Her _lord_, in this time, this place. "Deidre means heartbroken. Solitude." She looks at him to see if he gets the picture._

_"__It means absolute sadness."_

_He rolls his beautiful eyes that would leave any woman speechless._

_Except her._

_This woman, 'Deidre', feels only a little jealous at this other woman, the woman who seems to have captured him so easily, every time. But she doesn't like him like _that_, despite the horrid rumors of her being his mistress. No, she's his sister, at best. A comrade, a good confidant and an even better friend._

_But that doesn't mean she doesn't feel angry at this other woman. But as soon as the anger comes, it goes, dissipating in milliseconds. It's because she remembers how much they love each other, how much they fought to be together, how many heads had to roll, how many had to die._

_Because of them. Because of love, because of hope, both false and absolute, and because of betrayal. Betrayal always does this._

_They are so selfish._

_But it's all for love, she remembers, watching as he hugs her tightly. She lets a smile slip across her face. And love's one of the best things in the world, she knows._

_After all, who knows the pain of broken heartedness better than a cursed lover?

* * *

_

I'm walking back to my dorm rooms. It's a Tuesday night, so nobody's out. They're either all getting drunk in their rooms in a desperate attempt to forget their not-so-happy lives, getting high behind the bleachers on the football field in the same attempt, sleeping, doing homework, or just killing time until curfew, like me.

"Rukia!"

"Bah!" I let out a startled cry. What is this, Scare Rukia Week? First Clare last night, now Lissa tonight? "L-Lissa," I say her nickname, my heart pounding. "What're you doing here?"

"I think I should be asking you the same, my dear. Today in art class… you seemed a little… oh, I don't know… like… preoccupied, maybe? Or distracted, I guess." I hadn't thought of it, but she may be right.

I _had_ been spacing out a lot.

"So… are you okay?" She seemed genuinely worried.

"Mmm, well yeah. I guess so."

"Good!" Lesley smiled, and thrust out a paper at me. "Here!"

"Huh? What's this?"

"A letter from Ichi. He got it from Miss Yoru. It's something his mom wants us to go to."

I looked at the slip.

_To: Rukia Kuchiki  
Novice Agent  
17 Years Old  
You are cordially invited to the Royal Court of Queen Alexandra II, in recognition of your current status and mission. You and your team shall be escorted to the Court on Saturday, February 28__th__, and you will stay for that week._

_Best regards, Vasilisa Rinaldi, Queen's Advisor_

"And you know 'cordially invited' means 'you're going or we'll chop off your head and put it on a spike to rot'." Lesley joked. At least I hope she was joking.

"They still do that?" I gulped.

Lissa shrugged. "I don't know. I think so… you know how old-fashioned Alexandra is." Queen Alexandra the II, daughter of King Xander and Queen Alexandra I. She's old and bitter, and has been since her husband's death. The only light in her bleak old life is her granddaughter Momo Hinamori.

Momo's an old friend of mine from Kura. She has a house in the countryside town, and practically lives there, except in the summer and winter, when she goes back to her home with her grandmother.

"So… we have to go? It's so sudden… _too_ sudden." I say with my eyebrows arched up questionably. "I don't like… you know, moving around too much. And this is… ah, well… yeah." I reread the invitation, shaking my head.

"You have to go," Liss whined. "I _hate_ Court! It's so freaking boring. I went when I was like fifteen. It was the worst experience of my young life, I have to say. And since we're goin' on a job, it'll be ten times worse. What with the paperwork and the meetings and everything. The only good thing is the free shopping."

"Huh?"

"Oh, you know. Since we're flying out so short-notice, we get complimentary _everything_ in the Royal Court! Or, at the very least, sixty-percent off. Awesome, huh?" She held up the bag I'd been ogling at since I'd met her. "Where do ya think I got _this_ cutesy thing?"

"I guess." I whine. "I don't wanna go!" I look at the invitation with its creamy stationary, and the Royal Arm's golden crest at the top, with the picture of Alba, the vampiric goddess of life and sustenance. Her blond hair falls over her shoulders, and her blue eyes are kindly-looking. She was said to have lived a millennia ago, with the First King and Queen.

I never believed in those fairytales.

Rolling my eyes, I stuffed the letter in my bag. "I'm seriously gonna get sick if we keep jumping all over the map like _this_."

"After a while ya get used to it," Lissa smiled, walking back with me. "I've been jumping back and forth from Harrington's to the Court to my uncle's house in Spokane for years now."

"And you're not sick of it?"

"Of course I am. But it's not like I can say that."

I shrug. "That's true." I stare at Lesley, sweet, sweet Lissa, who seemed so weathered, so strong, but still so weak. The beginnings of worry lines were evident on her forehead. I'm wondering if I should ask, if it should be any of my business. It isn't, and I know that.

"You know what name I _really_ like? I like the name Callie for a girl, and Zachary for a boy."

"Why are you talking about this?"

"'Cause when I have a baby, I don't wanna be going crazy making one up. My hubby can pick their middle names!" Lissa laughed that good-natured laugh of hers.

I shook my head. "Mmm… Cody or Rika. Cody's such a cute name for a little boy, and Rika just calls out to me."

We giggled.

"An ass-kicking little baby girl named Rika. I could _so_ see that." Lesley's a hard worker. She works on the call, and is able to focus on her social, academical, and working life all at once. She doesn't need me reopening old scars. None of us can afford to _have_ them reopened.

I'll let my curiosity win another day.

For now, though, I'll just shut up.

* * *

"Hey."

I look up from my book. I'm in the library. Don't ask why. I've been spending a lot of time here, lately, for no reason at all. "Hi, Ichigo." The berry-haired teen plopped down on the black beanbag chair next to my white one.

"Hey," He repeats. His voice is a little muffled because he has a lollipop dangling from his lips.

"Where'd you get the lollipop?"

He shrugs. "Dorm lounge. There's a jar of 'em."

I scrunch my face up. "An entire bank got poisoned because of that, once."

"Thanks for that." He says sarcastically.

"So, what're you doing here, really? I know it wasn't to get a book." Clare was watching from her desk. I pretended she wasn't there.

Ichigo faked hurt. "What? I can't spend time with my favorite comrade every now and again?" I'm his favorite? This guy's so bipolar; I'm kind of scared, now. He's looking at me with those eyes. I've dreamt of those eyes before, I know I have. I don't know where, though.

"Thanks for making me your favorite, but it's… it's just… you're… I can't explain it. Are you bipolar? You're pissed at me one minute, and then you're ignoring me, and now I'm your favorite? You hardly know me!"

He chuckles. "I am _not_ bipolar, I assure you. You're just _so_… familiar." He leans forward, looking me in the eye. I wonder if he thinks _my_ eyes are familiar, too.

I want to say; _Yes! Yes! I so agree! You're familiar to me, too!_ But I keep my mouth shut. He scoots his chair over just a smidge, before plopping his orange head on my shoulder. I look down at him questioningly. His eyes are closed.

"I'm tired. I don't feel like going back to my room. I _like_ spending time with you, okay? And actually, between Grimmjow and the other guys dragging me away half the time, and you having to do all that shit with Lesley and Senna, we hardly see each other. So don't move. I'm staying 'till you finish your book." He pointed at the cover.

I felt a blush creeping up on my cheeks. "Okay." I hope I didn't stutter. This position was actually kind of uncomfortable on my part, so I took his head and laid him gently on my lap. He cracked one eye open, smirking.

"What was that?"

"I couldn't read with your heavy blockhead on my shoulder like that."

He closes his eyes again, laughing lightly. "_Sure_."

I tried to read my book, but could only find myself listening to his steady breathing.

* * *

After all that's happened—that wasn't what got me. The fact that we're being sent away—_again_—is not what has got me.

No—what got me was the fact that shadow from Monday never went away.

I think it's following me.

The shadow's there, on the wall inside my English class. I look behind me, to see if anything's there, but there's nothing inside, or even outside the window that can look like that. Students are sleeping, birds are chirping, couples are making out, and I'm just as jittery as always.

"Miss Kuchiki," Nanao's voice breaks through my stupor, and I look up at the teacher's assistant. "Is something the matter?" Her eyes are genuinely worried. I shake my head.

"Uh, yeah. I think so. Thanks." I nod to her, and I spot the shadows again, behind her, lurking near the ceiling. I swallow down oncoming bile. My hands grip the sides of the desk so hard—so hard my knuckles turn white.

"Okay," Nanao looks so unsure as she walks away. She keeps a good eye on me for the rest of class, constantly asking if I want to go to my room or to the nurse's office or something.

I say no every time.

And every time I wish I don't.

* * *

The rest of the week went on without a hitch. Until Friday came, that is.

"Spring break?" I asked dubiously. Nel nodded vigorously. "How could I be here almost three weeks and not know about spring break?"

"Its campus policy. Nobody talks about vacation until nighttime. The teachers threaten us with freaky field trips if we bring it up more than we have to." Nel shrugged. Her long teal hair was up in a ponytail, and I flicked it around tiredly as we talked. "Last year, Crazy Castile offered to take us to Portugal to observe wildlife." She shivered. "I was one of the unlucky people forced to go. I almost got bit by something!"

"What was it?"

"I don't know!"

I laughed, shaking my head. So _that's_ why they decided to call us in next week.

Life may be unfair sometimes, but other times it's beyond funny.

* * *

**Friday, February 27**

**9:00 PM**

"Cheater," Senna gasped, "Ooh! Cheater, cheater, cheater!" She whined, throwing down the cards. She and Ichigo had been playing go fish, and this was about his sixth winning. Even I'm speculating whether or not he plays fair. Orihime's staring at us intently.

Ichigo sighed, picking up the cards one-by-one. "Am not. You're just a little girl who doesn't know how to play fish," He smirked, ruffling his cousin's violet hair. We haven't taken off yet. Unlike Harrington's jet, the Court's was much more posh. They had velvet curtains lining the airplane windows, and nice carpeted floors. There were vases with lilies and roses and peonies, too, all over the place.

It was very, _very_ nice.

There was a table where Ichigo, Senna, Lesley and I were sitting, and that's where they played cards.

Lissa and I were caught in a game of chess. She's surprisingly good, and I was taught by Byakuya—who shows no mercy and has played for years— since I was four years old. Senna looked over at us.

"Who's winning, my loves?"

I was silent as I moved my white chess piece. "Checkmate."

"Damn you, Kuchiki."

I stuck my tongue out playfully. Lesley rolled her eyes. Senna played with my Queen as we packed up the game. "Isn't chess supposed to be for, like, prodigies?"

"Not really," Lesley said, shrugging. "After all, _I _can play. That's saying a lot."

Senna shook her head. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

Lesley huffed, and slipped on the complimentary sleeping mask. "Good night," She says, and Senna and I giggle. It's almost nine at night, but none of us except her are tired.

"Where's Ichigo?" I ask, looking at the lack of orange, not counting Orihime.

"I think he's talking to Tasha." Natasha Szelskey's the guardian the Court sent out to escort us. She's about Masaki's age.

"Ah." I start to get squirmy. Sighing, I get up. "I'm going to the bathroom, mm'kay?" They nodded me off, and I dragged myself to the bathroom. Unlike coach, where I usually fly if I fly at all, the bathroom's large, almost like a small bedroom.

Nice.

Almost as soon as I step in, though, the door clicks open. Shit, did I seriously forget to lock it? Oh well, at least my skirt's still on.

Ichigo's eyes are the first I meet.

I blink.

"Um… hey."

* * *

_**PLEASE READ**_

**OK, so please check my profile if you haven't already, because I posted some new stuff. Like links, OC character profiles, and upcoming story ideas. Please check them out, and if you have requests, don't be afraid to say 'em.**

**How did you people like the IchiRuki fluff in the library? I loved writing that... OK, so that was a little more insight… and a hint about something that'll happen later… it's not even all that ****AH-MAZING **** and I'm sorry for that. But there IS something next chappy that you'll enjoy… that little 'incident' next chapter was supposed to be **_**here**_**, but it was getting too long, so I just cut it. Next chap's short, too.**

**Was that a cliffy? It's nothing too bad… but there's some sexual tension, just in case my point didn't get across. :)**

**Lol, please review! I hope you likez it…**

**-tsuki**


	9. Didn't I?

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, **_**Need **_**by Carrie Jones, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**Chapter 8: Didn't I?**

_Put your faith in what you most believe in_  
_ Two worlds, one family_  
_ Trust your heart_  
_ Let fate decide_  
_ To guide these lives we see_

_**-Two Worlds **_**by Phil Collins (Tarzan)**

Orihime stared out the window of the plane, her gray eyes hard.

_Sometimes you need to die._

"Not without him," She whispers, "Not until I find who I'm looking for."

_You're very persistent._

Chuckling, the Inoue girl lifted the glass of red wine to her pink lips, sipping gently, staring at the moon. The moon that'd caused her so much grief. "Yes. I'm a lover. I'm his lover. And I'm not about to step aside and let him forget me, replacing me like that." Her gray eyes hardened into an emotion unfathomable.

"You're the summer, love in the ice. I am the spring, heart of gold. Stumbling together, hand in hand, we overcome loss, diamonds in the sand. Do you understand that poem, my dear?"

_Of course. I still think you're crazy, though._

"I know you do."

Silence.

_Why did you choose me, of all people?_

"Simple. You know her. You know who I want dead."

Senna stirred from her spot a few feet away. Orihime tensed, but sighed, leaning back. "You know her."

_I'm sorry._ Is all the voice in Orihime's head said, broken and sad. _I am so sorry._ Orihime ignored the cries of the heartbroken voice, the voice that pleaded for forgiveness, forgiveness form a person she didn't even know.

Instead, the auburn-haired girl smiled maliciously, sipping the wine in her hand.

* * *

"Um… hey."

"Hey." His voice was husky, nervous, almost. His breathing was shaky. I felt drawn to him, this man, Ichigo Kurosaki, whom I've only known a month. The man who seems so achingly familiar. I close my eyes, breathe deeply, and open them again.

"You're…" I start to say, but I'm lost in the moment. I shut my eyes as he leans down. I never imagined my first, _real kiss_ to be in an airplane bathroom, but whatever. I'm not complaining, really. The kiss is so sweet, so gentle. It's nothing but a kiss, at first, until I feel that sudden burst of loving heat at the bottom of my soul.

I gasp.

He pulls away quickly. He's panting. So am I. "Did you feel that?" _Please, please, _please_ say yes._

Breathing heavily, I look at him. Instead of replying, he bends down and kisses me again. This one is less gentle than the first, almost desperate. He nips my bottom lip, begging for entrance. Still a little dazed, I grant it, and his tongue flits into my mouth, a little hesitant at first. Our tongues wrap around each other carefully, almost frightened, but not quite. This kiss is so gentle, so loving, so overpowering I'm almost sent into sensory overload.

We pull apart. He has this half-dazed look on his face, but underneath that I can see undying love… and, perhaps, fear? Shock? And something akin to hope. He closed his eyes, and wrapped his arms around me, crushing me to his chest. "Oh god Rukia. What happened?"

The words held such a shocking familiarity. My heart pounded dangerously in my chest. I looked up at him, and I felt the urge to kiss him again. Instead, I just buried my face in his shoulder. My head was beginning to hurt.

"I know you, don't I?" The words hurt coming out. He's silent, so I continue. "Before this month. I knew you. I knew you before then, didn't I, Ichigo?" I look up. He's staring at me; shock, love, fear, and a myriad of other emotions cloud his gaze.

"…Didn't I?"

* * *

Lesley flips through a scrapbook.

"Okinawa, Tahiti, Tibet, blah, blah, blah…" She muttered to herself, ripping out a few pages. "Dumb, it really is. That I keep all these mementos," She shakes her head, and whistles a sad tune. Soon, she's singing it.

_Summer is gone_

_Winter is near_

_It comes at dawn,_

_Nice and clear._

_The skies are dead_

_Painted a dreary black_

_The pavement stained red_

_The demons are back…

* * *

_

**That was really short, wasn't it?**

**I went to SD's Summer Kickoff, and it was AWESOME. I LOVE YOU USHER! I LOVE YOU JUSTIN BIEBER! I LOVE YOU AKON! And Ke$ha still rocks!  
**

**Anyway… please review and tell me what you think.**

**-tsuki**


	10. Ghost of a Rose

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, **_**Need **_**by Carrie Jones, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**Chapter 9: Ghost of a Rose**

_Promise me, when you see  
A white rose you'll think of me.  
I love you so,  
Never let go,  
I will be…  
Your ghost of a rose…_

-Ghost of a Rose-

_**London, England  
1842**_

I chuckled, studying one of Bailey's puppies. "So adorable! I'm naming you Skye." Bailey was sleeping soundly next to me, her pups scampering about playfully. "So… do you know who the father may be?"

"We think its Alamos, the brute," He says, nodding to the huge brown-splotched husky-shepherd half-breed, who did look much like Rosy herself. "But Bailey was the only female in a whole flock of those men," He chuckles, "It could be any one of them. My bet's on Icarus." Icarus was one of the eldest; and the most gorgeous, in my book.

"Well, Bails, do _you_ know who may have taken advantage of your cute doggy self? But I must say; whoever it was must be exceptional for you to birth such beauteous pups." I giggled at Fang, Justice, and Iggy, who were fighting playfully. The only other girl aside from Skye was very small; the runt. She was so cute, though. But still so sickly.

The baby, whom I'd named Sode no Shirayuki,—Sode for short—could barely get up. It was whimpering and struggling, the image of a fourteen-year old dog with a tumor in its belly than a five-week old. I pat her head.

"That's somethin'." He says. I look up. "Ol' Yuki there was supposed to have faded last week. At least that's what the doctor says."

"She's a fighter," I say defiantly, picking the sickly little thing up. My god, she's so small. Sode's only further proof that it may have been Icarus who impregnated Bailey. She's pure white like Icarus, and has the same lovingly icy blue eyes. She's calm like him, too. The only thing I can see that even resembles Bailey is the way she walks. It's almost like a strut; she's too proud to give up just yet.

"Yeah, she is. So, you pick the one ya wanna take home?" His father walks in, all smiles, like always. Standing up, I nod.

"I sure have! I want her." I lift Sode up.

_His_ face pales. "Stubborn girl. You know as well as I do—Sode is very ill. She won't make it past December." I shake my head at his sad words.

"No, no! I can tell. Sode has courage—much courage. She will live. Not only that—she won't get adopted if I don't take her. And don't think I don't know what you do with sickly dogs." I glared hard at them. If a dog's considered 'inadequate', it's easily disposed of. Killed by the hands of a gun, or by the law of the club.

Rolling his eyes, he smiles.

"Whatever you say."

* * *

_Present Day_

"You can't pretend that never happened." He says. Everyone's asleep but us. I look out the window sourly.

"Yeah, actually, I can. We never kissed. You were speaking with Guardian Szelskey, and I was taking a nap. Nothing more, nothing less." I stare at him, eyes hard. "I don't even _know _you. We shouldn't have kissed. Don't the rules say you have to know someone for _at least_ two months?" We hadn't talked about my dreams. Not yet. I wanted him to wonder—I wanted him to squirm.

Ichigo sighs. "I didn't know there was a rule book I needed to follow."

I scoff, blushing. "Yeah, well, there _is_."

Smirking, he leans back.

"Don't you ever sleep?" My voice is rough, impatient.

"Don't you?" He retorts, the smirk still there. He thinks he's won.

"No." I say, glaring. I hardly do, anyways. "The screaming keeps me up."

His eyes widened slightly, and worry flickers behind those orbs—those sinfully beautiful orbs. "So… you… you can feel it? Even now?"

"Not exactly," I say. "It's a light stabbing." Death is unavoidable, and we've flown over countless cities. My headache hasn't stopped since we lifted off. "It's just… a migraine, I guess. Nothing too serious, don't worry."

"That doesn't help." Ichigo says.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. Now, are you or aren't you going to tell me about these dreams? Or why you seem so familiar?" I move to sit next to him. I focus on Senna, Lesley and Inoue, who are all snoring a little. Senna's talking in her sleep, but I can't make out any words.

"No." He says slowly, like he's afraid to say the word.

"No?" I repeat, baffled.

"It's too soon," He says, almost tiredly.

"That's bullshit."

"That's the truth."

I know it is. But I don't say anything. Rolling my eyes, I whisper, "Bastard."

Natasha Szelskey saunters in, looking as graceful and badass as all guardians should. Her long black hair's swept up into a ponytail, displaying a large, pink scar marring her otherwise very beautiful face. "You better wake your friends up soon. We're landing in about fifteen," She says, and flashes a pretty grin.

I nod, and smile my own smile. Ichigo nods too, saying 'thanks'.

"You're too impatient," He sighs as he turns back to me. "Everything happens for a reason."

I cross my arms. "Yeah. I know."

* * *

What could possibly be the worst thing to do first thing in the morning? I used to think it was waking up to Owl City playing loudly in Hisana's bedroom, one door over, or, for an even worse setting, waking up to find your parents are nowhere to be seen, only to remember they're dead.

Now, the latter's still horrible, but this totally out beats the former.

Queen Alexandra, in all of her Queen-y glory, stood, intimidating us. She looked nothing like the stereotypical queen. She was about sixty, maybe. She looked more like one of Mitsuki's really old corporate-lawyer big shot bosses in her neat pencil skirt and blouse. But that look in her eyes had all… well, _almost_ all of us sweating profusely.

Senna's breathing was labored drastically, Orihime was biting her nails, Ichigo was still standing tall but couldn't keep his eyes from darting all over the office, and I was running around in circles in my own head. Lesley seemed to be the only calm one, and god was she _calm_. She was sitting on Alexandra's desk like it was no big deal, while the rest of us were freaking out before her royal highness.

"Miss Barlow, could you please refrain from soiling my desk?"

Lesley put the paperweight she'd been holding down, and stopped whistling the tune of _Lips of An Angel_. "Sor-ry!" She sang, smiling.

Alexandra nodded to her, and looked at us. "So… these are your friends?"

"Friends, comrades… colleagues, whatever you wanna call 'em." She winked at us. "Hey, Al-lay-_lay_, where's your nephew? Ya know, the really _hot_ one?" My jaw almost hit the floor. It would've been comical, had Lissa not just referred to the Queen's favorite and _only_ nephew as 'hot', or called the most highly-regarded leader in Our World Al-lay-lay, a cutesy-friendly nickname for Alexandra.

I'd already predicted Liss to be arrested for disrespecting her, but instead Alex rolled her eyes. "You mean Nick? Yes, he's here… somewhere. And I'd prefer it if you didn't distract him, Miss Barlow. He's twenty-one, much too old for you, and he needs to focus on his studies. As my closest male descendant, he's to take the throne."

Thank god; Momo's gonna be so happy to hear that. She hated the tutoring lessons.

Lesley rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I can bug Nicky later."

"Now, you've been summoned here for an obvious reason—" No, _really_? "And that reason is not only to evaluate your success so far, but to tell you more about soulless. Now—Lesley? Would you like to continue?"

"Huh? …Oh, yeah, okay. Yup, yup." She pressed a button on the little remote in her hands. "Uh… oh yeah, Loly Kamio."

How could I possibly know the biggest bitch in London was in here?

…Lucky guess.

Loly's picture popped up, all neat and smiles. "Loly Kamio, seventeen years old. Birthday… April twenty-fourth. Black hair, and brown eyes, but she usually wears pink contacts," Lissa pressed another button and more info popped up.

"Um… she lived with her parents until they died in a house fire when Loly was seven. She was then sent to live with her aunt, uncle, and four younger cousins, who also died mysteriously. Under suspicion for it, no other family would take her and the judge issued a parole officer. Um… at age nine she was sent to St. Zara's, an all-girls Catholic boarding school for vampires in Spokane, Idaho. Its alternate name is St. Zara's School for the Exceptionally Gifted. She stayed for four years until her parole-officer, Mindy Simmons, drowned to death in the school's indoor pool." The screen went blank.

"After that she was sent to Wyvern's, and regularly sees a therapist."

"How could no one say anything? Or _know_ anything, for that matter." Senna asked, looking over a copy of Loly's file.

"Oh, people know. Not many, but they're in that school." Lissa sighed. "I hate her, but seriously, now I can actually _understand_ why she's so mean. Poor girl's lost everyone who's ever given a rat's ass about her."

I sighed. _I _was even feeling bad. God, my life just keeps getting more and more complicated, doesn't it? "That's no excuse," I say sternly, "We've all lost important people. We've all believed it's our fault. Other people have believed it's our fault. But that doesn't mean it's _true_."

Kaien.

My parents.

I shut my eyes.

Alexandra spoke up, in that slightly-annoying Russian accent. "Well… why has she caught your eye, Lesley?"

"All of those deaths… Loly's parents, her aunt, her uncle, her cousins… even Mindy, they were all found to be… _soulless_, ma'am."

My breath caught in my throat.

"Oh, god."

"I see." Her Queenly voice was strict. "You're dismissed. Our meeting will recommence tomorrow morning, ten o'clock, sharp."

"Yes, your highness." We bowed, leaving the room.

* * *

"How do you _know_ her?"

Lissa blinked. "Who? Al-lay-lay? Yep, my Grandmamma used to be her guardian. Well… you know, before she like… died." Lissa shrugged. "I've known Alex's successor, her nephew, Nick, for years. Since I was three. He's a good pal of mine."

"Ah. Do you like him?" I asked. Hopefully she kind of did, and she could forget the whole Senna/Adrian deal.

"As a friend," Stupid hopes. "He's kinda flirty, but really cute, too… but I don't think I'd ever _date_ him, you know." She paused. "He's… he's not my type, you know?" No, because I don't believe that bullshit. The way Lissa talked about him… she's totally in love, if not more. I'm wondering if that's why she was so attracted to Adrian in the first place. To just forget. "He's an alcoholic." She finally says, "And a smoker. I've tried… for _years_, now. But he won't quit. And I don't think I can take that anymore."

Birds chirped and the sun shone. A total opposite setting of the current emotions running through my heart. Sorrow, for my friend? Maybe a little bit of anger at this Nick dude for making her feel so bad.

"I'm sorry." I can't really think of anything else to say.

She laughs bitterly. "What can I say? Nick's the reason I'm boy-obsessed. It's all just a failing attempt at forgetting him." She makes her voice all melodramatic, making it sound more horrible than it already is. Knowing your friend's just breaking her own heart over and over again is an awful feeling.

So I just hug her, and hope she wills the thoughts away.

* * *

Senna's in a much better state, which is kind of to be expected. So is Orihime, but Orihime's always so perky and fun-loving, no matter what the situation.

They're having a blast at Kit's, the Court's own version of Macy's. So far they've hit JC Penny's, Old Navy, the spa, the food court, Millie's, which is a place almost just like Fifth Avenue in NY, and not to mention a Louis Vuitton store. So far they've probably spent twelve grand.

_Minimum._

Well, I guess it's probably okay for them. Senna's probably still working off the trust fund/daddy's will money left with her, and Orihime has a shitload of credit cards that'd been gathering dust in her wallet for months.

They wanted to drag me over to Victoria's Secret and Viva Dolce, but I had to decline. I really didn't feel like spending the rest of the day trying on bras and booty shorts I couldn't even afford.

So I tried out my third option other than moping with Lesley or shopping until I drop dead with Senna and Orihime.

Talk to Ichigo.

Oh, _no_.

* * *

"And what could my little raven-haired beauty have to do with _me_ this fine afternoon?"

He was being flirty. I think it's his body's natural defense against stupid. Too bad it's not working. I sigh, crossing my legs in a ladylike way. We were in a random McDonald's he'd found, much to my surprise. I didn't think magical nobles ate here.

"You know _exactly_ what, Kurosaki." He flinched when I used his last name, picking at a french-fry. He sipped his Coke quietly, looking up at me with his insanely pretty eyes.

…Wait, what? Was I still caught on how _mesmerizing_ his eyes were? Well, actually… they _were_ pretty gorgeous… they were the most perfect shade of honey-brown, with just a hint of hazel in them. They were almost _too_ easy to lose yourself in.

Clearing my throat, I lifted my own soda to my lips. "If this is about the kiss, it's okay to feel weird." His voice was sweet, not at all like the anger-managing Ichigo I've come to know recently.

I blinked. "I… I see. Well, that was nice of you to be so concerned about me being uncomfortable, but that's not it." _That's not _just_ it, anyways. _"It's about my dreams. I know I didn't imagine asking you. Twice. Tell me what it's about, because I _know_ you know."

He sighed, and for a second, I think I just won.

"If I were to ask you what door you would choose; what would you say? The truth, the lie, or the in-between?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I didn't take Ichigo as the riddle-making-type.

"Just answer the question."

I sighed. "I don't know. It depends. What's the in-between?"

"I don't know. _You_ tell _me_."

I groaned in aggravation. "Okay, truth. I love hearing the truth. So spill."

He chuckled. The bastard. "Ha, sorry. It's a riddle, just in case you didn't get it. Now, tell me the answer, or you're not getting one from me." He smirked that dumb smirk of his. I looked him in the eyes. He's so familiar, it hurts not knowing. Every line on his face, every speck of brown in his eyes, every strand of hair… it's just so achingly familiar.

I gulp. "Fine. Have it your way."

His eyes flashed up to me, and I could see another, overwhelming emotion in those hazel depths.

Shock.

* * *

"Nick. Hey."

"Lissa." A boy with dirty-blonde hair smiles at her. You couldn't see his shirt through the dark black trench coat he was wearing. A pair of dark-wash jeans and custom fitted leather shoes completed the ensemble, screaming of old money. "How've you been? Good, okay, or indifferent?"

"A little combination of all three. Just throw in a little 'misery' and it's a done deal."

"Misery?" His eyebrows furrowed as he took a long drag of his cigarette. "That's not the Lesley Barlow I know and tolerate. What happened?" His eyes held a special kind of concern that wasn't exactly brotherly, but a little more. Lesley chuckled bitterly as he dropped the cigarette, putting it out with his fancy Italian shoes.

"That's such a bad habit." She looked up with pleading eyes. "Please stop. You're destroying yourself."

"I'll just destroy myself sooner if I _don't_, you know." They both knew that the drinking, the sex with random whores, and the smoking weren't just habit, or an addiction. It was saving him and destroying him all at once.

"I know." She sniffed, and tried not to seem torn up. "I'm sorry." They just sat there for a while, on the front deck of Lesley's villa, looking up at the stars. "You know…" She laughed. "I really like it here."

"Because you can milk my aunt for a shitload of money?"

"That," She sighed, "And the fact _you're_ here. How long's it been?"

He stared at her, the smoke from his cigarette floating up into the sky. He shook his head, smiling oddly. "A year."

"A year…" She laughed bittersweetly. "It seems like so much longer, doesn't it?"

Nick was quiet as he put out a second cigarette.

"Yeah."

* * *

_He likes to look at your eyes._

_To him, they're the most gorgeous thing in the world. They change in color depending on how you feel. When you're angry, they're this deep, deep shade of blue that makes him go all philosophical, which just makes you angrier. When you're scared, they dim and turn a midnight-y color. When you're sad, they turn the most depressing shade of lilac he's ever seen._

_But when they're happy… when _you're_ happy, he can't even speak. His brain shuts down, and he can't even come up with a good name for 'purple'. So he'll just say indigo. Your eyes turn indigo when you're happy._

_Indigo's his favorite color, now.

* * *

_

I didn't want to overhear them. But it just happened like that.

"She's remembering, isn't she?" The voice is distinctly male. It's nothing like Ichigo's voice, though. Ichigo's voice is almost always a little serious, no matter what the situation. It's always a little husky, too. But this voice… it's young, like _his_, but instead of being husky, it's gruffer, like the guy's impatient or something.

"I think so, yeah." Lesley's voice. It's not childlike like Senna's, or overly-sweet like Inoue's. Lesley's voice sounds like she smokes a pack a day, even though I know she doesn't.

But that's not the point.

"I'm really worried, Nick." Nick. Her smoking alcoholic friend? "What if… what if she _does_ remember, huh? What am I supposed to do then? I promised—I _promised_ not only Alexandra, but Zan and Angel, too. I promised them they wouldn't have to go through this. Again and again and _again_. I promised them. But here they are, almost a millennium later, falling through the same cycle."

"Did they… you know?"

"Yeah."

"Well, why is she still here?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking _you_, god damn it! She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't—"

"Shh, you're talking too loud!"

They began to bicker, which gave me time to think; who were _they_? What in the world was Lissa talking about? Did she know something about Ichigo, maybe? Is that why everybody's so familiar?

"We'll talk more later. Brunch, tomorrow, okay? I'll call you. Hiyori and Shinji can come, too. They really need to hear this."

"We're seriously moving forward without you-know-who?"

"Well… _duh_. What am I supposed to say, huh? That his girlfriend's gonna be ashes soon and—"

"Shh," Nick shushed her, "Okay, okay. I get it. We can tell him later. The café, tomorrow, right. I'll call Shinji. That little firecracker Hiyori is _your_ deal. Last time I tried to talk to that bitch she nearly broke my arm."

"Haha." She fake-taunts, and I hear footsteps.

They're gone.

* * *

I'm in my room, trying to think.

_Trying_, and totally not succeeding. My head's hurting.

Groaning, I turn over. This is _**so**_ not funny. I mull everything over in my head.

_Okay. Reoccurring dreams about my friends. Mostly Ichigo. Check._

_Fell in love… _like_, fell in __like_ _with Ichigo._

_Kissed Ichigo. I'm never going to talk about that again, because it was _really_ sudden and_ really_ irresponsible._

_Eavesdrop on Lissa and her addict-friend, which was totally uncalled for on my part. I still feel guilty. Oh, and the way they were talking made me think about Ichigo's and my relationship._

I'm such a stalker. Or I'm OCD. Or both.

Damn, okay. The only normal ones are Senna and Inoue, because Lesley's going all El Polo Loco on me, and Ichigo's all Mr. Philosophical Riddle man, and I think _I'm _just going totally clinically insane.

God, please don't make me crazy. I don't want to spend the rest of my _good_ years in an asylum.

I'm an empath. I'm a banshee. I am _**not human**_. I'm a magical being, so this whole 'may be reincarnation' thing shouldn't make me so insane. But it is. Rolling over, I tried to comprehend why a simple way of turning my life upside down by turning me into a detective could suddenly make me fall in love—like, fall in _like_—with Ichigo Kurosaki, and make me certifiably crazy. Well, maybe not _certifiably_—I still need to see a shrink for that.

My phone's ringing. I do not care. I don't care even though Justin Bieber's _Baby_ is playing to an almost annoying level. Hisana probably put this in there. She loves Justin Bieber and all those other 'teen-pop sensations'.

_Baby, baby, baby oooh…  
Like baby, baby, baby nooo…  
Like baby, baby, baby oooh…  
I thought you'd always be mine (mine)_

Growling, I pick up the damn thing and for the hell of it, check caller ID.

_Ichigo's cell_.

Oh, that's great.

* * *

Shinji Hirako is not a very complicated man. He loves jazz music, and annoying the hell out of his significant other, Hiyori Sarugaki. Which he seems to be doing, now.

A good portion of Shinji's musical interest fell into artists like Norah Jones. And that's who he was listening to now, actually. _I've Got to See You Again_ floated from the old-fashioned phonograph he'd kept for a good sixty years.

And how old was he supposed to be again? Oh, yeah. Twenty-five. Isn't immortality such a confusing subject?

"Hey, dickhead!"

_Don't pay attention to her, Hirako. She'll only know she won._

"Oi! Baldy! I'm talkin' to ya!"

_Don't, don't, don't…_

"Hey—!"

"Oi! Shaddup!"

Shinji Hirako is normally a very calm man.

…Except where Hiyori was concerned.

The two began a not-so-uncommon bickering session. They were seated in a private lounge of Martha's, which was a very, _very_ rich café for magical noblemen and women. Their waitress, Marina, laughed nervously as she showed Lesley and Nick the way in.

"I'm sorry, Miss Barlow… I—I…" Marina stammers. Lesley waves her off, shooting her 'friends' annoyed glares.

"S'okay, Marina. _These morons do it all the time_." She shouts the last part, but the other two make no effort to show they heard. Nick chuckles as Lesley growls. "Damn it all! Hey, _hey_! Sarugaki, Hirako! Come off it, would you?"

Shinji, not surprisingly, was the first to turn away from the argument. "Oh, hey, Liss-ack!" The blond man sputtered as one of Hiyori's sandals hit him in the face.

"Nick, Lesley," Hiyori nodded to them both. "What'cha need us here for?"

"I think you know," Lissa says, alarmingly calm. She held up a file, dropping it on the table. "Marina," She turned to the strawberry-blond waitress. "Um, could you leave us for a little bit? Like, a half-hour? We'll be ready for coffee, then."

Marina nodded slowly. "Yes, ma'am." She bowed and left.

Shinji's voice was calm. "She's…" He was at a loss for words as he looked pass the file on the table, and to the large, leather-bound book. A white peony and a red rose were pressed on the first page, before a series of sketches and letters overtook the next thousand blank parchments.

"Yeah." Nick nodded. "She's back. And the first two steps? Finito."

"My god…" Shinji gasped lightly. "This was so… so… _so_…"

"Quick." Hiyori finished for her associate. "But… Barlow, you're forgetting. We said we wouldn't get in your way again. Remember… back in Northampton… and in Moscow, _and_ in Athens, Verona, Sicily, Berlin…" She paused. "In every place we've said the same thing. We won't get in your own problems."

"This is different." Nick says, groaning softly as he sits up from the white armchair. "She's remembering. And she's seen Aizen, too."

"_Aizen_? Shinji blinks, eyes wide.

"Not exactly," Lesley corrects her counterpart. "She's… she's been having dreams. In a few of them, she's described shadows. It could be anyone. Tosen… Aizen… Alice, Ulquiorra, hell, maybe even Aaroniero." She sighs, rubbing her temple with her hand softly. "Gin's reappearance certainly doesn't help in solving matters."

"_Gin_?" Hiyori says, surprised. "Oh _god_. _That_ bastard's back, now? What's next?"

"If it makes you feel _any_ better, it probably can't get any worse." Nick shakes his head, "Then again, it probably will. Fate's a bitch like that."

"And Caleb? What about Caleb? And Joshua?" She's nervous. Hiyori never got nervous. Or all that worried, for that matter. But Caleb and Joshua Hannagan were good reason to be worried. They were two demon brothers, their powers paling in comparison to other demons, but they visited Earth too many times for comfort.

"Caleb's in the Third World penitentiary, remember? And Joshua's not much trouble without his big bro at his side." Nick's voice was muffled with the cigarette in his mouth. Rolling her eyes, Lesley plucked the cigarette from his mouth, took a drag, and plucked it back in.

"That's disgusting." Shinji and Hiyori say in unison.

Lesley shrugged.

Nick stared at Lesley from behind his dark-rimmed Prada sunglasses. "Nice," He leaned back. "And you haven't smoked in what, fifty years? That's really nice."

Lissa smirked. "So… are you willing to help us?"

Hiyori opened her mouth to say something, but Shinji cut her off.

"Hell yes."

* * *

I hug my jacket closer to my body. Damn, it's _coooooold_…

I can see my breath as I curse Ichigo under my breath. We're in a forest somewhere in _Madrid_… what the hell makes him think I'd want to see him in a place like _this_? A really, very beautiful… lakeside… with trees… it's kind of sweet, actually, that he'd choose such a gorgeous place to meet—

_Wait_!

I shake my head vigorously. "Why am I thinking that?"

"Thinking _what_?" I turn around, and there he is, in his strawberry-haired glory.

"N-nothing." I blush. I just thank the gods he can't read minds. "So… why'd you ask me here, again?"

"No reason." He shrugged, walking up to me. Standing on the lake's shore, he crosses his arms. For a split second, I see myself wrapped in those arms. But I shake the thought away. I mean, I couldn't possibly believe all those dreams I had… I couldn't possibly believe they were about _us_, right? The more I thought about it, the more abnormal things seemed to get—not like my life was ever normal. That night on the plane—was just one irresponsible mistake that never should have happened. I should've just said no.

"What are we?" His voice is questioning—maybe even a little worried. "Like… _what_? Friends, comrades, acquaintances…" His voice trails away, and I know what he wants to say.

_Lovers?_

"…Comrades, yes, of course. Acquaintances… _maybe_…" I turn on my heels to face him. A smile's covering my face. "We're friends, too. I mean, _I _think we are." My smile's gentle. I don't want to say we're lovers—being friend's sounds so much easier. I mean, we just _kissed_—it's not like we _did _anything.

He breathes deeply, and turns to the lake. "I can't do this anymore—Rukia, I'm sorry. I just can't."

"What?" I ask him, a little shocked, but some part of me was expecting this.

His head drops into his hands, and he groans softly. "I'm sorry—" His voice isn't his voice, I notice with a small quirk of my eyebrows. It's deeper, almost older. "Please, please, forgive me… my god, forgive me… Rei."

_Rei?_ My head spins at the name. It makes my head hurt, like something's pressing against my skull from the inside, trying to escape. It makes me want to throw up. Jealousy shoots through my heart when he whispers that name. I swallow the bile rising in my throat, and I blink away the tears. "Ichigo." I choke his name. "Who's Rei?" My voice is pleading.

He looks up at me, shocked beyond belief. It's like he just noticed I was here. "Who's…?" He stands up. "She's nobody, Rukia."

_It sure didn't sound like 'nobody'._

"She doesn't sound like _nobody_, Ichigo!" I'm yelling. What on Earth…?

And then I'm running.

* * *

"_Hey… who's Rei?"_

"_Rei?" His voice is shocked. "Hmm… oh, yeah. Rei. She's an old friend of mine. One of my dad's client's daughters."_

"_Do you like her?" You're surprised; your voice is strangely hostile. You're jealous, but you refuse to succumb to such awful feelings. He chuckles, and continues to write his letters. The letters to his father, mother, sisters…_

You.

"_No, no, of course not. She's just a friend…" His voice is strangely far away, almost nostalgic. His hand is quick on the page, writing the letters as fast as his body will allow. He looks up at you, and you jump at how piercing his eyes are._

"_You're beautiful." He says, turning the page in that book._

_You blush._

I'm not the type to be jealous of a girl I don't know. Especially if that girl could, quite possibly, be very important to Ichigo. Of course not. That one moment of ours… it was… something. Something that was really, unexplainably, close to love. And all those dreams? Psh. Purely my imagination.

Right?

Senna made another trip to JC Penny's. Something about her skinny jeans not fitting right. Inoue was in the middle of the room, holding up dresses to her perfect, model-y figure. She pouted as she pulled out a couture dress, pressing it against her frame. It's a pretty shade of petal-pink that matches her hair and eyes perfectly. Shamelessly, she pulls off her sundress and pulls the newly-bought one on. It reaches to her knees, long and flowing and beautiful.

"Does this look good?"

"Hell yeah." I say truthfully.

She smiles briefly, honestly at me for a moment, before frowning. "I know it's not my place to say, but you really shouldn't curse so much. Especially if we're around the queen, you know?" She looks at me seriously. Like hell I'd ever stop cursing, but I decide to humor her.

"Yeah, I guess so."

She flashes a smile, showing off her fangs. They're a little dull. "Have you been feeding?" I ask her seriously. Underfeeding does that. It makes the fangs go a little dull, and makes the teeth a little less white.

She blinks. "Huh? Oh, right. I guess not." She picks at her right fang, a habit I've seen her do often. "Mmm, it's been, like, maybe a day? I'll have to skip dinner and go tonight." Feeding also takes away a vampire's appetite. The blood here isn't like the blood at Wyvern's. The blood at Wyvern's is just refrigerated cow's blood. Here, it's fresh human blood, taken directly from willing participants. Mortals, plucked from the slums of society, ready to give their life source in exchange for the feeling of a vamp's high.

I look down at my nails. They're short; really, really short. Nail-biting is a habit I've never completely gotten rid of. "Orihime." I say her name quietly, hesitantly. "Um, do you know a girl named Rei, maybe?" I don't know what other-worldly force compelled me to ask Orihime Inoue about somebody _Ichigo_ talked about.

She blinked up at me. "No." She says cluelessly. "Why?"

I give her a fake smile. "Oh, no reason."

She grins, pulling off the pink sundress. "Okay." She says. She's so naïve. She throws a pair of jeans booty shorts at me, covered in pink sequin peace signs, ones that probably cost a hundred dollars. "Since you couldn't 'shop till you dropped' with us, I got you something."

"Uh… thanks, but—"

"No buts!" Inoue shushes me. "It's a gift. No need to pay me back or anything. You're supposed to accept gifts, get it?"

"Got it."

She smirked. "Good."

_**Moscow, Russia  
1860**_

He's going to the Americas. That's what your brother says. But you cannot believe it.

You race down the old marble steps of the mansion, just narrowly escaping your sister's harpsichord recital. God only knows it's the most boring thing you'll ever have to sit through. You'd much rather get on your knees and beg him not to leave you.

_She_ suddenly steps in front of you, and your heart drifts to an eerily slow panic. "Rei." You say her name quietly. You're almost jealous of this woman. She smirks, almost condescendingly at you. "Rei isn't your real name." You know it's not, because sometimes, when you call her name, she doesn't turn around. Sometimes when you use her name in conversation, her dark eyes flash confusedly.

Sometimes, she doesn't get mad when you say bad things about her, this _Rei_.

"What would make you say that?" Her voice is sickeningly sweet, almost familiarly so. You've met her before, but you have no idea where.

You do not answer her, this girl. This girl, who might even be married to him, in the years to come. Instead, you merely ask her; "Who are you?" Your voice is sort of… _broken_, for you believed you were actually friends, before recent.

She turns to look at you. "I." Is all she says. I? That can't even count as a sentence, can it? "I." She repeats, and you blink twice. She turns around, and scurries away.

"Excuse me?" You shout down the hall. But the girl is gone. Rei is gone.

And you are off, running again, running to find the man you love.

**Ok, before you all start screaming because I put in yet **_**another**_** OC, I just want to say she's not really an OC. She's another character, for sure, but I'm not stupid enough to say who, or what type of relationship she has with Ichigo.**

**OH, ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING!**

**I'm changing my penname. Yes, yes, I am. It's getting kind of boring... so I'm changing it. If any of you find me by typing in my name, Tsuki Meroko Uchiha, you better bookmark this story or something, because by tomorrow I shall be called something new... I've been obsessing over Alice in Wonderland lately, so yeah. Type that in. My avatar will stay the same, so it shouldn't be anything too hard to find. I'm thinking about Pandora Angel Alice because... IDK. My friend Cammie made it up... and I actually kinda like it a little. Not to mention Cammie's a bit of a PANDORA HEARTS freak, as am I.  
**

**Anyways, review if you want to know.**

**-tsuki (Not for long...)  
**


	11. Before I Fall

**Inspiration: **_**Soul Screamers Series**_** by Rachel Vincent, **_**Slow Goodbye**_** by Lesley Roy, the WB show **_**Charmed**_**, **_**Vampire Academy **_**by Richelle Mead, **_**Strange Angels **_**by Lili St. Crow, **_**FALLEN **_**by Lauren Kate, **_**Need **_**by Carrie Jones, and of course, Ayumi, Haru, Miki, and the rest of ya'll.**

**I don't own anything, but you guys know that, don't you?**

**Chapter 10:**

**Before I Fall**

_**If she were going to die, I'd already be screaming. I'm a banshee. That's what we do.**_

**-**_**My Soul to Save**_

When I was a kid, I was ignored constantly. My parents were too busy with work and money to really care about anything their kids did. Hisana always buried herself with homework, as did Byakuya. 'Preparing for the future' is what they called it. Mimi, however, spent her time at local shopping malls, and at friend's houses and parties.

Me? I had Renji, Hisagi, and Rangiku, who were beyond awesome. But sometimes I needed some time _away_ from friends, you know? Time with family. Time I never really had growing up.

Thanksgiving. _"You and the others'll go to Mr. Larson's this week. Won't that be fun? You like Jesse and Karla, don't you, Rukia dear? Your dad and I have a conference. We'll talk later."_

Christmas. _"Come on, guys! Your mom and I've got a plane to catch! Victoria's babysitting you this week and I left all the money with her, okay? She'll get you that teddy bear, okay? And that doll you wanted…"_

I'm not complaining. I'm not saying I didn't have it good. I got everything I wanted. Of _course_ I had it good. But really? I was born into a family of humans, for god's sake! My banshee-ness comes from my mom's side. Her mother was a ghost whisperer, a mortal who could communicate with the dead. I'm a banshee, a psychic form of that. Byakuya and Mitsuki were, too, and they found out long before I'd even developed the screaming. Hisana was a ghost whisperer. Not a banshee, not a siren, but another form of my grandmother.

What'd happened? Oh yeah. When that psycho serial killer got Karakura in a panic, I'd scream the night before a body was discovered. Kura's a small town. Everyone knew everything in that town. I'd always said stuff about _knowing_ and about my dreams, with the shadows.

I'd made the mistake of telling my not-too-open-minded parents about those horrible dreams, dreams that always started out happy. Like I was flying, or I was getting married, or I was running around laughing in a meadow or something. But then everything always turned sour. The grass withered, flowers wilted, the church crumbled, or I fell, clouds whizzing past me as I tried to scream. Anyways, so yeah. I told my mom. At first she told me not to worry about them, that they were just dreams.

And then it got worse. Shadows began appearing—like they lived behind my eyelids or something, and popped out when I least expected them. And the nightmares also got worse. I'd never had the meadow dream or the marriage dream again, but those only changed into dreams about terror and anguish, and one, heart-breaking feeling that usually left me sobbing for breath. The mentioning of shadows eventually got me glasses, then contacts, and then the worse thing ever happened.

My dad suggested the family shrink—and my mom agreed hesitantly. Dr. Tsukiyo was her name—my mom had _insisted_ on a female therapist, for overprotective reasons—and she was a quack, quite honestly. I knew I wasn't crazy. So did everyone else. But she still insisted on antipsychotic medication for my 'shadow fits' as I dubbed them.

After the screaming started, however… my parents automatically thought the worst.

"_Rukia… sweetheart, do you… _hear_ things? A voice, that tells you to yell? To do things? To lie, to… do what you can do yourself? Is someone talking to you?"_ I didn't lie. I never lied as a kid. But after I insisted the shadows I'd seen were demons—well, if I were my mom I'd think I was nuts too. She'd thought I was schizophrenic. My dad just took me to the therapist's, convinced Tsukiyo could help me. They recommended three reform schools and two psychiatric hospitals before I'd finally had enough.

When I was twelve, I completely stopped taking my antipsychotics.

When Mimi asked me why, I'd responded, _"'Cause I'm not nuts, Mitsuki. You know I'm not crazy. I know I'm not crazy. So why does everyone think I'm like, a schizophrenic or something?"_

She'd only looked at me for a while, and then led me to my father's study. It was like a giant library, really. He hardly used it, so we used to play and do homework in there. She'd pulled out two books: _Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger_, and _The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore_. She'd handed them to me wordlessly and smiled.

"_Read them. Tell me when you're finished."_ I was twelve years old, and totally uninterested in books this thick. It'd taken me three years to finish _Spot Takes a Walk_. She was crazy if she thought I'd be able to pull together enough focus to read these damn things. In the end, though, I did, and I pulled my young mind together enough to understand it.

They were sitting in the living room when I'd pieced it together. Our babysitter, Victoria, was on the phone in the other room.

"_Well, did you figure it out?" _Came Byakuya's monotone voice.

"_I…We're banshees, aren't we?"_

Hisana grinned. _"Not me! Purely human… I can see ghosts, though."_

I gave them each a hard glare. _"And you still let them test me like a guinea pig! What's up with that?"_

Mitsuki laughed heartily. _"Hey, your fault, sweetie. We gave you those looks when you first tried to tell 'em. You just didn't pay attention. Bya and I are the magical ones. Hisana's just not specialful enough… hey! JK, JK! Don't take it so seriously, _Hisa_!" _Hisana had started whacking her with a pillow at the 'just not specialful enough' comment.

I'd been kind of mad at them for the secrets, especially when it involved something so important, but in the end, I just had to forgive them.

How could I not?

* * *

_On the eve, you _will_ die. No choices, no opinions. Accept it, like I did… _so_ long ago…_

That's what I'd used to hear, every night when the shadows appeared and whooshed by my ears. That's what they whispered to me now, so condescending. I almost yelled at them, but then I realized how insane that would look in the Queen's banquet hall.

Senna, Orihime, and Ichigo were all chatting away happily at the table, except Ichigo kept looking at me weirdly—like he was nervous or something. No one was eating, but only because the royals hadn't given us the 'okay'. Yes, they _still_ did that. Alexandra wasn't visiting us this evening, but she said someone would give us the 'let's go'.

I only pray its Momo, even though I _know_ she's in Kura right now, imprisoned in her room for her safety.

Of course, it isn't.

Lesley walks in a moment later with an overly-eccentric guy in a nicely-pressed Armani suit, expensive Italian shoes, red plastic sunglasses, a fake black cane, a chocolate cigar dangling from his mouth lazily, and a black-and-red top hat. He raised his arms high, and grinned that bad-boy grin not many men can pull off successfully. He _can_.

"My minions of the world! Hell-oof!" He doubled over as Lissa punched him in the stomach.

"Don't scare my friends, Nick." So _this_ was Nick? I'd only heard his voice. That slightly-gruff, all serious tone was a total contrast to this guy's flamboyant nature and pretty/bad boy good looks. Lesley took the top hat off his head, placing it on her own head. They seemed, to me, like an overly-flirtatious couple that may have seemed to disagree on a lot, but loved each other dearly. She scowled, taking away the cigar. "You dumbass," She says, giving it to one cringing nobleman. "Don't spoil your appetite."

"Thanks, _mom_. You're such a bitch." One of the more elderly nobles gasps at his crude choice of language, probably totally appalled her next ruler will have such a bad mouth.

"And _you're_ an egotistic bastard who's _probably_ gonna—"

And they were off bickering. I heard Senna laugh nervously, and I turned to her.

"They're always like this," She explained. "Like siblings, I swear to God. Sort of like… you and Ichi." She chuckled. I blinked, wondering if that's what Ichigo and I actually sounded like when we fought. Eventually the fighting stopped, and Nick announced dinner, thank god. I was famished. Apparently, so was everyone else.

After dinner, Nick waved off most of the nobles and the butlers. He linked his fingers together, placing them under his chin. There was a smirk on his handsome face. "Okay, now…" He cleared his throat. "I'm sure, as—hopefully—all of you know the incidents that have taken place over the past few months." His face hardened into something serious, something professional.

"Madrid, London, the U.S, Moscow, Quebec, even some parts of Japan." He stared at me and, I guess Ichigo, as he spoke. His voice was clear and strong. "Lisa—would you please continue?" A woman with red-framed glasses and brown hair coughed, nodding slightly. Within seconds, every eye in the room was on her.

"Yes. Ah—hmm, okay. Madrid, Spain. Investigation by Court's Group C; Ulquiorra Cifer and Alice Kamiko."

I could see Senna tense slightly at the names. I nudged her with my elbow. "Hey—do you know them?"

"Just Ulquiorra. He's a jerk." She says with a soft sigh. I blink, and nod to myself. Jerks I can learn to handle if they're on our side.

The guy, Ulquiorra, was pale, almost deathly so. I couldn't figure out what type of magical he was… he was too strange, even for a being of Our World. He had pitch black hair and these mesmerizing, deep-set green eyes that Orihime just seemed to fall in love with.

Alice, however, was easy to see. She was a fairy, I could see by the golden dust circling her eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her canines were a little pointy, a little like a vampire. She had long, whitish-blue hair, and deep blue eyes. She looked an inverted version of pale, dark-haired, gray-blue eyed Mitsuki.

Alice jumped up in front of Ulquiorra and laughed loudly. "Mm'kay, so… oh, right! About thirteen cases of soullessness in the past seven weeks… and, um… am I forgetting something, Ulqui?" She looked into his deep green eyes, a feat that seemed amazing enough.

He peered at her almost lazily. His face was stoic, and his voice was cold and emotionless. "The soulless beings have been transported to the Netherworld, according to the demons we've interrogated. Their soulless forms show an uncharacteristic amount of hostility. Those sent to Hueco Mundo or even Soul Society always regain their usual emotions."

My ears were still caught on the sentence, 'demons we've _interrogated_'. Demons are toughies. I don't want to know what they had to do to get the information out of them. That chick, Lisa, had already sat back down. I looked at Lesley, who shot me a look that said 'Don't ask. They're tough.'

"Alright, thanks Cifer, Kamiko." Nick sighed. "Okay, that's about it for now. We'll send you all the information we collected before you leave. Dismissed," He waved us away like we were nothing but flies. We all bowed, curtseyed, whatever, and fled the vicinity.

Everyone left, but Lissa, Nick, and one blond-haired man.

* * *

"Tell me, _Nick_," Lesley cooed, "What on _Earth _were you thinking on calling such a fucking _pointless_ meeting? And… seriously, _Ulquiorra_ and _Alice_? They're just…" The brunette groaned, slapping her companion on the arm. "They'll be the end of us."

Shinji sighed. "Don't start. Hiyori's gonna _kill me_ for staying behind."

"Who _is_ she, Hirako? Your keeper?" Nick asked, lighting a cigarette. Lesley huffed, ripping the cancer-stick out of his mouth. She put it out on his Armani suit jacket, and rolled it up. "Hey—"

"Cancer or your powers? Take your fucking pick, Nick." Liss growled menacingly. She wouldn't cry, of course, but the fact he _still_ smoked had put her and her emotions out on a limb, there.

"Cancer. It's an easier ending." The dirty-blond replied, scowling.

Lissa let out a shaky sigh. "The soullessness spreading is not of our concern, as of now," She says, "What's of our concern is the anniversary. It's March, now. March 1st. In twenty-nine days, you know what's happening, don't you?"

The two men nodded, somewhat solemnly.

"Good."

* * *

Her eyes shaped first from the blinding darkness. They were distinctly feline. The way they tilt up ever so slightly at the edges, the yellowish-brown color that seems so mysterious. To these men, she's called Dorothy. She's a demon. Not a higher-leveled one, of course. She's no Sin. She works for one, however. She's bound to the higher ups, a Sin named Lust. Sins are higher-level demons, bound by the very things that sent them to the Netherworld. In Dorothy's master's case, it's lust.

_Where's your master?_ The voice is raspy, almost mechanic.

The haunting, echoing voice ricochets off the walls, bouncing back to the seemingly-stoic girl. She clears her throat and smoothes out her dress. She's not exactly nervous; she's _never_ nervous. She's more than likely just a bit petrified of her boss's temper. Yeah, that's it. Just his temper.

"She's… she's at Court, my Kings." That's what they call themselves. 'The Kings'. Three voices. All male. Only one female voice, every once in a while, and it's not very pleasant at _all_.

_Has she found _her_?_ This voice is different from the first. It's slimy and slippery. Horrible. Almost human, just _almost_, but not quite.

But Dorothy hasn't received word from her master, just yet. But she has confidence in her master's abilities, so she answers, somewhat smugly, "She's detected her soul, yes. But not the body just yet, my King. My greatest apologies."

The voices are silent for a long, agonizing moment.

…_Very well. Dismissed._ This voice is as smooth as silk, almost romantically so. It makes her want to melt.

Dorothy bows and fast-walks out of the dark room. She's never seen any of the King's faces. They're all totally blank, like a puppet, whose maker forgot to add faces. Just pale, round _things_, on human bodies. She hopes they're only masks. She knows, positively, one of them is wearing _only_ a mask. He's the leader. The most powerful. Her _lord_.

His name?

…Sosuke Aizen, of course.

* * *

"Are you okay?" We're in my villa. One of the many Sophia rented out for us to stay in while we're in Court. I sigh. Holy crow, only a week more and then I'm back to school. Half-living lunches, Loly the bitch, and teachers with bad breath. Joy, oh joy.

I look up, at Orihime. She's looking at me strangely. I shrug, squinting down at a copy of _The Time Traveler's Wife_. My vision swims, blurs, then turns back to normal. I blink. "Um—ah, yeah. A little. My eyes… they've been hurting me, sort of. I guess, maybe." I shake my head. "I don't know what I'm saying."

"Oh. Do you want some aspirin or something?" She asks gently, feeling my forehead. "Hmm… a little fever. What was that old recipe my Grandmamma used to give me for a cold? Oh, yeah! Warm milk and some honey. I'll make that for you! It should keep you from getting a sore throat, and…" Orihime kept on rambling about old family secrets involving treacle, molasses, and red bean paste. It sounds like a cavity waiting to happen, really.

I waved her away, smiling. I'm happy we're friends now, really. My vision swims again, in and out of focus. I gasp slightly, gripping the table in the kitchen, breathing heavy. Orihime, who was at the cabinets, looking for mugs, is at my side in seconds.

"Whoa, Nelly," She smiles nervously. "Are you okay? You're really unsteady. I hope you don't have meningitis or something!"

I shake my head. "No, it's just a flu—I'm fine, I swear."

Orihime's smile turns exasperated. "Oh, are you always so stubborn? Sora says Kuchiki's are very stubborn," Sora's her elder brother, who used to go to school with Byakuya and Mitsuki. They're certainly the stereotypical Kuchiki clan members. Byakuya; the moody, brooding, almost-emotionless man, and Mitsuki, the same uncouth, loud-mouthed, slightly-annoying woman my mother was in her younger days.

"Yeah. We are, I guess." I say, laughing slightly. I'm not developing a life-threatening disease, thank god, but I can't help but feel something more horrible is going on inside me.

I steady myself, and take the elastic around my wrist, pulling my hair into a loose ponytail. My hair had grown out significantly, easily sweeping past my shoulders. My hair's always growing fast. I hate it so long. I'll have to cut it soon, though. I briefly wonder if I can con Lesley into coming to the spa with me.

"Where're you going?"

Sighing, I pull on my Converse. They're ripped up a little, and beyond dirty. But they're comfortable, really. I pull on my favorite jacket. It's a purple and blue hoodie.

"Running."

* * *

The next morning, I'm actually able to convince Lissa into coming to the spa with me.

I quickly learn Lesley knows _everyone_ in the spa. She knows everyone in the _Court_, seriously.

My stylist, a man with dark, mesmerizing eyes cuts my hair just the way I like it. Short, but not short enough to make me look like a boy, that one stubborn piece hanging from between my eyes. He's complimenting my eyes a lot, I notice.

"They're like sapphires." He has a Russian accent, almost unnoticeable. He's a dhampir, like Ichigo. "Beautiful sapphires, glowing in the pale moonlight of nightfall." If this is his fancy-schmancy way of flirting, I like it. A lot. He's stroking my hair, and I almost consider flirting back. Almost.

Lesley smirks as her stylist finishes up some nice blondish-chestnut highlights. They're very pretty on her dark brown hair. "Don't scare her, Danny." She runs her fingers through the finished product. "Perfect, as always. Thanks, Kimy." Kimy's a petite, brown-haired young Korean woman, maybe twenty or so. She's an angel, like Rangiku.

Kimy smiles broadly, nodding. "Thanks, Miss Barlow!" She bows respectively, like I've seen so many do here, in Court. Kimy's voice is soft and sweet, like maple syrup on Sunday morning, back in Karakura.

My hairdresser, Danny, begins flirting again. "You know, you're a very pretty girl—we shouldn't have been kept away from each other for so long." He touches my cheek, the corner of my eyes. "Like… like freshly fallen snow on a winter's midnight." His voice is poetic. I shake his hand away lightly, smiling stiffly.

"Thank you."

Kimy scoffs as she heats up the curling iron for Lissa. She normally wore her hair straight with side-sweep bangs, making her round face very sophisticated. "Danny, stop terrorizing the customers, okay? Honey, don't you listen to this fool here," She pointed a hair dryer at him. "He ain't nothin' but trouble."

"I think she noticed," Lesley says, high-fiving Kimy.

Danny pouts a boyish pout. "You're just no fun, Kimberly."

Kimy sticks her tongue out.

Danny sighs, granting me a for real smile. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. You're just beautiful." I blush. I don't notice Lissa's glare.

He fluffs my hair up, adding some finishing touches. "Here you go!" He says. I love it. It's like it always is. Short, dark tresses flaring out stubbornly at the nape of my neck. The bang's there, too. Perfect.

"Thanks so much." I say, standing. Lissa's done, too. Her newly-chestnut highlighted brown hair is in loose curls all the way up to the small of her back. We start to walk out, before Danny calls Lesley's name, probably just because he hasn't gotten mine yet.

"Um… I know this may sound kind of odd, but could you… _would_ you… consider…" God, I hope he wasn't asking one of us out. "How about visiting my cousin Shelby? She's a psychic." I blink up at dark-eyed Danny.

Kimy groans. "Don't, Danny. Shelby Gordon is a quack. She's so crazy."

Danny ignores her, and looks at us with pleading eyes. "Please? I think it'd be good." I never believed in psychics. Then again, I never believed in something as fucked up as this could happen, too.

Lissa looked at me. I looked back.

We shrugged.

* * *

Shelby was Danny's cousin. She was pale and blue-eyed, a stark contrast to her reddish-brown hair. It was a dark auburn-y color. She was in her mid-to-late twenties, maybe twenty-seven. She was seated in a back room, gnawing in a very unladylike way on chocolate-covered strawberries.

"Mmm—" She raises her eyes as we walk in. Shelby's blue orbs narrow at her cousin. "Ugh. Hi, Daniel. What's your business here?" She looked at Lissa and I, eyebrows shooting up. "Hm. Who are your friends, Danny?"

"Lesley Barlow and Rukia Kuchiki."

"Barlow, huh?" She stands up slowly, and stares at Lesley. "I knew your mom. She was a very nice person. Where is she nowadays?"

"I don't know." My friend answers tersely.

Shelby nods to herself. "Huh. Andrea _was_ really flighty like that… she's here one minute, gone the next. Like _whoosh_!" She throws her hands up to demonstrate. She turns to me. "And a Kuchiki, huh? Like, Natalia and Roka's daughter?" My eyes widened at her casualness. "They were _really_ good people. I liked 'em." She lit a cigarette, the same Court-brand ones I see everywhere.

"So, whaddya need?"

Danny gestures to us. "How about a simple aura reading? Sight sharing? Or a Tarot card drawing?"

"I'll do that sight sharing thingy. I can already see people's auras." Empath, duh.

Shelby grinned, taking Lesley's hands. "Okay, dear. Sight sharing is the act of sharing another's memories, allowing you to momentarily look into their futures. Who is it?" Lesley hesitated, and then whispered something in Shelby's ear. Blue eyes widened momentarily, before she pulled back and nodded slowly.

"O-okay. Focus. _Breathe_…"

Lesley's eyes closed, and she focused briefly on Shelby's voice. For one split second, their emotions were blocked off. Shelby's shock mixed with fascination, and Lissa's anxiety and slight frustration. All of it was blocked, for one second.

And then it started again.

They pulled back out. Lesley was gasping for air. Shelby regarded her calmly. "What'd you see?"

"Um… ah," Lissa stumbled for words. "Just—darkness, maybe. That's it. I heard people talking… but that's it. That's it." She shook her head. "I could make out the words 'eve', 'acceptance', and 'eternal'."

Shelby cast a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. I can't do anything more. If we delve deeper… something bad may happen." It was such a cliché warning, but her voice was sincere.

I took Lesley's place. "Tarot," I said, pointing at the deck of cards.

Shelby grinned. "Wise choice, darling. Pick three cards."

I picked three cards. She flipped the first one over. The _High Priestess_. The picture of the black-haired woman in royal blue robes flashed through my mind. "A secret. I don't know if it's for you, from you, or directed towards you, but there's a secret in this." Shelby bites her lower lip, flipping over the next card. _The Lovers_. "True love awaits you—" Like I haven't heard that one before. Hisana always told me about love. I don't believe in it. The lovers were a man and woman, naked in a field, holding hands. She flips the next card.

_The Tower_.

"Holy crow."

"Oh my god… that _isn't_ good."

Shelby stares up at me slowly, and for a second, I hope this is just a dream. Just a horrible dream.

The card itself shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. It depicted a tall, white tower, going upwards to the blue sky. Perfectly bright, perfectly normal, right?

Wrong.

A demon. I _know_ it's a demon—I just do. It looks like a normal human being, but his eyes in that picture are yellow, a glowing and evil yellow. Not calming and feline like Yoruichi, or charming and childlike like Senna. No, they were distinctly evil. The demon was flying up to the tower, where the faintest hint of storm clouds brewed.

"Disruption. Conflict. _Change_…"

The word 'change' rings in my head.

"Violent, violent things… you will lose what you value most." Shelby shudders, repacking the cards. She takes my hands in hers. "I'm so sorry…" I hope Shelby's just a quack, I really do. Maybe none of this will come true. But I know it isn't, because Lesley didn't pretend to hear those voices. I didn't pretend I didn't feel that power in Shelby's veins.

I didn't pretend to not feel fear bubbling in my blood.

I didn't pretend to swallow back my fears of what was to come, and force a smile.

I hate this smile.

I've always hated myself, when I smiled like this.

The corners of my mouth are stitched up, like a doll's, forever trapped in that hopeless, _dead_ grin. It's not that shiny white smile that Senna always gives, or the _little too sugarcoated _one Orihime gives, or Ichigo's charmingly _arrogant_ smile, or Lesley's 'Mona Lisa smile'. It's not one of Byakuya's half-assed smirk-y things, or Hisana's supermodel grins or even Mitsuki's 'I'm naughty and you know it' smile.

It's not slightly crazed like Shelby's.

It's not flirtatious like Daniel's.

It's not sexy like Rangiku's.

It's not boyish like Renji.

It's not lazy like Hisagi.

My smile's mine. It's boring and bland, and gives off no normal emotion. My emotions are kept hidden, far away from the world around me. It's been this way since day one. But now's when I'm actually showing it.

"Rukia?" Lissa's voice flows into my mind.

I look up. Smile. Sort of. Now's not the time to think of my 'impending doom' I guess. Don't think me crazy for believing her, because if you were me, you'd think so too. You'd know, as soon as you'd seen her, Shelby Gordon was mystical, magical. She was a seer, an oracle. She predicted the future, and she'd just predicted my death.

…Or something, far, far worse.

My heart shuddered within me.

_Love…_

I remembered the Lovers card.

_What good is it? Even if it's the end of time, nobody's immortal. Even if you're happy for a moment, one, beautiful moment, you'll still have to leave them. Love isn't immortal. People aren't immortal. Why follow it?_

I used to always say this.

"_Because love _is_ immortal, honey. And you can't ever say that unless you've experienced _that_ kind of love firsthand."_ My mom always said that, whenever I doubted myself. I never did take that to heart, though.

Swallowing whatever lump was in my throat, I nodded at Shelby. I grabbed Lesley's wrist and dragged her away.

"Let's go."

**A pretty short chapter, isn't it? Sorry! It's really kind of confusing now… but it gets better, I swear!**

…**I say that an awful lot, don't I?**

**Ah, whatever. TTYL!**

**-Pandora. Angel. Alice  
**


	12. The Devil & The Dog

Fade

**I don't own Bleach, or anything else used in my story. I only own my OC's.**

_**PLEASE READ NOTE**_**: The song/poem used in my story, 'My Summer Boy' is just a revised version of 'My Lovely Summer Girl' in the awesome book **_**Shiver**_** by ****Maggie Stiefvater****. I just finished it and omigod, it made me **_**cry**_**! You really should go and pick up a copy, cuz I swear it's one of the best book's I've ever read!**

**Chapter 11: The Devil and the Dog**

**

* * *

**

Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.

-The Doorknob (_Alice in Wonderland_ by Lewis Carroll)

Blue-gray eyes stared unblinkingly at the computer screen.

March third.

Should've been like any normal day. But it wasn't. Far from it, really. Something deep inside her had steeled, anxiously awaiting this date. She gulped, her fingers shaky as she typed in a name.

_Sosuke Aizen._

Up popped numerous links. A man named Aizen in Tokyo, a man named Sosuke up in the UK. But that's not who she was looking for. Finally, she found it. Sosuke Aizen, military officer. It was just one lame website, posted by some kids with too much time on their hands.

_Sosuke Aizen was a great military officer. He was born in a small, unnamed coastal town in Japan, c. 1009 He later moved to Edo (now Tokyo) where he studied, until he was fifteen. He then…_

Terrified of reading more, she shut the laptop.

Closed her eyes.

Breathed.

Opened the laptop up again.

…And kept reading.

_When he turned twenty, he met and married eighteen-year old Suki Kunusaki. She died three years later, of smallpox. Heartbroken and confused, Aizen enlisted in the military._

These dumb website-makers thought they knew about Aizen. In truth, he hadn't been heartbroken at all. Maybe confused… but he'd always been a bit mad. Sociopathic. He loved Suki, no doubt, but not enough to go to war for her. He enlisted for an entirely different reason, one she could never fathom.

_He rose through the ranks in no time at all, eventually—_

"Mitsuki?"

_Aw, shit!_

Mitsuki scrambled for the mouse, hurriedly closing the website. She pulled up the novel overbearing publishers would soon demand, finished and perfect. She cringed slightly as she stared at the screen. _My god, only two Word document pages finished? How pitiful_. She could never hold onto an idea for long. It's a miracle she'd written as many books as she had.

"Mimi," Hisana gasped, running into the kitchen. She wore her favorite jeans and blue blazer. God, she'd probably rushed straight from the University. "Hey. You wanna go out to lunch? My treat. Bya's gonna be gone _all day_."

"Oh." Mitsuki tried to act casual—and she failed miserably. Her shoulders were tense, and her knee was shaking—something that only happened when she was hiding something. She propped her head up with her hand in an odd way. "Mm'kay. Meeting?"

"_How'd you guess_?" Hisana asked sarcastically, walking into the kitchen. She grabbed a box of Lucky Charm's from the cupboard. She looked dejectedly at it before sticking her hand in. "Rukia loved Lucky Charm's."

Mitsuki sighed, removing herself from the kitchen table. "Why don't you call her? If you're so worried."

"I would… but she's in Court right now."

An eyebrow rose questioningly. "Is that so? What's Ruru doin' in _Court_, of all places? She trying to pick up on those snobby noblemen? Puh-lease, she can do _so much better_!"

Hisana giggled softly, putting the cereal away. "Nope. Something about that mission."

Mitsuki leaned back against the kitchen table, looking out the window. It was cold for springtime in Karakura. She sighed. "I don't even know why you guys let her _go_. She's too young. You've seen what those guardians get put through… how much they change. She _can't change_, Hisana."

Hisana's eyes hardened a little, showing knowledge that went far beyond her years. "You know it as well as I do, Mimi. This isn't about her."

"It kind of is," Her sister argued.

"Well, it's more about—" She stopped. Looked up. Sighed. "You know who it's about."

"Yes, yes I do." Mitsuki was rummaging through the fridge now, and resurfaced with an old box of Chinese that'd been sitting in there for two nights, at most. "We're not going to lunch if we keep eating like this."

"Yeah." Hisana grabbed the car keys. "We'll talk more. C'mon, let's go to Yukio's."

"Mm'kay." To anyone else, this should've been a normal conversation between two very different sisters.

But it wasn't.

* * *

_I fell for him in summer._

_My lovely summer boy._

_From summer he is born_

_My lovely summer boy._

_I'd love to spend my winter_

_With my lovely summer boy._

_But I'm never warm enough_

_For my lovely summer boy._

_It's summer when he smiles_

_I'm laughing like a child_

_It's the summer of our lives,_

_Let's contain it for awhile._

_He holds the heat_

_The gentle caress of summer_

_In the palms of his hand_

_I'll… be happy with this summer…_

_If it's all I'll ever have._

_

* * *

_

Mitsuki folded her legs like a lady, looking over Yukio's menu. "I think I'll have a coffee and… oh, huh… the sandwiches look good. Turkey and Swiss? Ham and cheese? What? Ooh, no, maybe the…" She trailed off, looking at the menu.

"I'm worried about her, Mi. She hasn't called," Hisana half-whined. She'd been worrying over Rukia ever since they dropped her in London.

"I think Byakuya spoke to her." Mitsuki says, sipping her bottled water. "Now, back to sandwiches. I think I'll be old-fashioned today and get a cheeseburger. You?"

"Salad," Was her sister's immediate reply. "Do you think she's still mad?"

"Probably," Mitsuki says, digging through her purse for lip gloss. She made a face when she found it; it was almost out. "Damn. Come with me to the drugstore later."

"You buy your makeup at the drugstore? I go to Karla's Beauty Supply. It's just down the block. You didn't answer my question."

"Sure I did. I don't go to K's because it's too damn expensive. Raspberry Smash's twelve bucks there; you can buy the same brand at the Walgreen's on Tokiko for five. And it's a buy one get one free thing, too."

"Whatever." Hisana rolled her eyes. "Answer me, really."

Mitsuki sighed, and finished applying the lip gloss. "Mmm… She's probably still kinda peeved," She put her purse next to her on the table, "But I'm sure that's not why she's not answering your calls. She's probably just busy, you know?" Mitsuki's phone rang, Katy Perry's _California Girls _echoing through the outside air. "Speaking of calls…"

She pressed the 'take call' key, one of her index fingers shooting up to say 'hold on for a moment'. "Hello? Oh, hey," Mitsuki's hand stayed up, her bangles dangling as her wrist shook slightly, "No, no. He's at work, sorry. Hisana? She's with me," Blue gray met violet blue.

"Um, yeah… okay." Her voice turned serious. "Of course. We'll be there in no time." As soon as she hung up, she was packing up her phone, gloss, and whatever else she'd brought. Dropping down a five, Mitsuki stood up. "C'mon, Hisa!"

"Where're we going?"

Mitsuki's breath shook as she answered, while dialing Byakuya's number, "Court. Something's wrong."

* * *

_**New York, NY**_

_**1878**_

She's walking down the street, feeling confident. She's humming a song under her breath. It's something she's learned long ago, but she can't fathom the words, or where she's heard it.

You stop her, just before she enters the bookstore. "Hi." It's a little strange, because you haven't talked to her for well over two weeks. You don't know why, but you feel this unnatural attraction towards her, something that made your heart flutter. It always makes your heart _flutter_. Love, maybe? That's how your mother always described it. But it's too soon to be love, isn't it?

"Hello," Her voice is laced with a slight Italian accent.

"I—I am sorry," You say quickly.

She blinks up at you. She's short, very short, barely coming to your chin. Sometimes you feel like she's right, and you're too tall. "Whatever for?" She asks you, nonchalant. Her voice is so strong, unlike most women you've come across.

"For—you know, asking about your parents."

She winces. Looks away. Enters the bookstore anyway. You follow her, almost sprinting to catch up. She's fast for one so small.

"What my parents did to me is none of your concern," She says seriously. She fingers her gloves. You know what those black leather winter gloves are hiding. They hide the scars her mad parents left, when they tried to slit her wrists.

She picks up a large, leather-bound book. _Romeo and Juliet_. "That's good." You say, pointing at the book in her hands. "Have you ever read _Romeo and Juliet_?"

She shakes her head. "I will soon, though. I've read _Hamlet_ a few times."

"Ah. I love Shakespeare's work, myself."

You're silent after that. You just stay there, in that store, browsing. A few romance fiction novels catch your companion's eye, and some biographies catch yours. You're so very different. That's what everyone says. They say you'd be much better off with her, with Rei, but you can't agree. Not when she's here, too.

Not when Rukia's here, too.

* * *

"Orihime, can I… talk to you?"

The orange-haired girl blinked her big gray eyes at me. They seemed so innocent, and our feud seemed so far away. "Yeah… yeah, of course, Rukia. What's it about?"

"Guys."

"Ooh!" She squealed, "My favorite subject!" She plopped down on the little patio couch, next to me. Fifth day in Court, and it's almost ten p.m. We're on the villa's patio. Only two more days, then we're back on a plane to London. I can't help but think this has just been a waste of time.

I can't help but think of Ichigo.

"Whaddya need to know?" I'm reminded of her crush for him, and my throat goes a little dry.

"When…" I swallowed, "When we were on… you know, the plane…" She's watching me intently. "Do you remember _why_ I took so long in the bathroom…?"

Her gray eyes held confusion. "You… what happened?"

"Ichigo and I… we _kissed_." I got to the point, but said the forbidden word carefully. The way I saw it, it was better Orihime heard it from one of us than as a rumor spreading around because Ichigo couldn't keep his big fat mouth _shut_.

Orihime opened and closed her mouth in quiet disbelief. She stood abruptly. "You… you _kissed_? And you…" She looked at me like she'd never seen me before. "You're still here. How is this _possible_?" She started pacing around, and I blinked up at her.

"Orihime? Are you okay?"

Orihime stared at me. "Uh, yeah. Yes, I am, as a matter of fact, haha." She grinned, but it seemed a little forced.

An explosion outside brought me to my senses. "What in the—" Orihime was quick as she grabbed my hand a little too forcefully, and dragged me to the door. "What? Where're we going? O-ri-hi-me!" I broke her name into syllables as she dragged me along in the night. Lights shimmered everywhere as people emerged from their homes, screaming, running, frightened.

"You don't wanna stay around after hearing _that_, do you?" She had a point. Ichigo, Lissa, and Senna appeared out of nowhere, seemingly. Senna had a disbelieving look on her face as her cousin pulled her along, much like Orihime was doing to me.

"H-Hey! Take it easy—Ich-i-_go_! That hurts, you dimwit!" Senna complained.

"Orihime," He was talking to her but looking at me as he spoke, "Take Rukia and Senna _away _from here. Alice's place, okay?" How does Ichigo know Alice?

Orihime nodded quickly, taking Senna's hand.

"Wait—what on _Earth_ is going on, here?"

Lesley stared at me sadly, "I'll explain later, honey," Her gaze was soft, almost apologetic. Her voice had an ancient, wise tone to it. "For now, though… you have to go." She pushed me along, dropping something in my hands. "It's a triquetra," She explained. It was a small, bracelet-sized thing with an odd-looking charm that reminded me of a triangle. "He…" She didn't say it, but I'm almost positive she means Ichigo, "Saved it. Since your time in Berlin."

"_Berlin_?" I stared at the bracelet. "I… Lissa, I've never…"

"Been there?" She smiled sadly. "Yeah—I know. Now, _go_! I'll explain later!" She shooed us off.

Orihime took our hands and ran. Senna and I had to sprint to keep up, I swear. She took us to one of the villas about a mile away. Pushing us inside, we looked at the interior.

That's when I heard the gasp.

Senna's eyes were wide, and she was shaking almost uncontrollably. "R-Rukia…" She sounded like she'd throw up. She pointed to something on the wall. "L-look at _that_." My eyes followed her gaze, and my mouth went dry at what I saw.

Orihime groaned from behind us. "Ugh—Alice! What in the—you weren't supposed to _kill him_!"

Alice stood over Ulquiorra's unmoving body. Blood was splattered everywhere. "He was pissing me off. Sorry." She shrugged. Noticing the glare Orihime was shooting her, she scoffed, "Oh, don't give me that look! He'll come back… sooner or later. I guess. Aizen won't let him off so easy. He will be reincarnated again before the eighteenth day, don't you worry your little head." She kicked Ulquiorra's leg with her boot as she approached us.

"Good. You've got the girly girls…" She cooed, taking Senna's chin in her hand. I could tell by looking at those perfectly manicured fingers that they were ice cold.

Senna tensed. "W-What's going on, Orihime?"

"Pipe _down_," Orihime says, growling.

"Oh, don't be so mean," Alice says, motioning for us to sit on the couch. After seeing what she did to Ulquiorra, we don't hesitate. "They're just nervous." She eyes me in particular. "They're always nervous. But seriously? I can't believe those two bozos didn't catch you."

Orihime flushed. "Hey—_he's_ _not_ a bozo! That chick Lesley is, for sure, though. Ichigo always… _always_ suspected something from me…" Orihime's voice took on a slightly harsh tone. "And we both know whose fault _that _was." She glared at me before walking off.

Alice shook her head, laughing boisterously.

"Ha! Oh, girls," She pats my head, "Don't let ol' Inoue get to ya. She's just a little squirmy. Has been for a while now, too." She stared at us, long and hard. "You wouldn't happen to know why?"

I shook my head. "N-no."

"Oh," Sighing, her smile dropped. "Mmm… do ya know why you're here, at the _very_ least?"

"Should we?" Senna asked, trying to focus on Alice and not the blood splattered walls. How in the world could Alice be acting so normal when her comrade's lying dead on the floor?

"Oopsy," Alice smiled sheepishly, "You don't know? Then I've said _way_ too much. Sorry!" She disappeared in that special, happy, flashing way all fairies are capable of. A light cloud of gold dust sparkles sat where she just was.

Senna turned to me slowly, swallowing a lump in her throat. Tears glistened in her eyes. "Rukia. Rukia, where are we?"

"Alice's villa." I was, by far, the most clear minded out of the two of us. "We're in Alice and Ulquiorra's villa," I say, hoping to convince myself more.

"W-why?"

"I don't know," I finally settle on saying, "I have no clue, Senn."

She looks away for a moment, terror and confusion flashing through her big, innocent eyes. She shakes her head, putting her head in her hands. Something like a laugh shakes through her body—before I realize what she's really doing. Big, heaving sobs rack her frame, and she seems so fragile, so scared. She buries her head in my shoulder, her arms wrapping around my waist.

"T-this can-n't be h-ha-appening…" She cries, painfully. "What's O-Orihime doing? And what's w-with Al-lice? W-what's goin-g on, Ru…" She can't even finish my name, she's sobbing too hard.

Orihime comes charging back in, yanking Senna back by her hair. "God you're annoying," She says, very unlike my used-to-be-rival. Something's not there in her eyes—not the usual compassion or sensitivity I usually saw, even when we hated each other. No, in its place is something so different… the eyes of a killer flashed before me. "Shut. _Up_!" Orihime yelled, gripping Senna's chin with her other hand, and twisting it back with a sickening _snap_.

As soon as it did, the overwhelming urge to scream overcame me. I bit it back down, though, gasping, trying to focus on the redhead before me.

Senna's eyes became blank, unreadable, and Orihime threw her away from the couch, on the other side of the room like a lifeless ragdoll. She 'humphed' and turned to me. Her gray eyes turned cold and crimson-colored, her fangs much more visible in this light. "Much better. Its' so nice and quiet, don't you agree," She leant down beside me, her mouth near my ear, "Roo-key-ah?"

I jerked up, off the couch. Senna's body remained motionless, useless, and_ dead_. Shock and rage consumed me as I stared at Orihime Inoue. I took in big, gasping breaths. Orihime stared at me blankly, like a dog would stare at a wall. "Good grief, you're just as bad as _she_ was. It didn't take me long to notice you were one of _those_ chicks. You don't care what happens to you, just so long as your precious friends stay safe, blah, blah, blah…" She grinned.

"But you know, Senn-Senn's gonna make a _really _good snack."

I saw red. And then I did something I'd been itching to do since that first day in kindergarten when she pulled my pigtails.

I punched her.

I'd never really been a pacifist—but I never hit people either. I never really had to. Self-defense came naturally in my scream. But I didn't want to kill Inoue, not just yet. I didn't want to do that and be put away because of how it looked.

She grunted, and turned her head away, coughing up blood. When she lifted her head back up, her pretty auburn hair obscured half of her face, but I could see blood on the corner of her mouth. "You're gonna wish you hadn't done that," She says, and steps forward. She's pretty nonchalant, though, like she can take me down. I have no doubt she can, seeing as I'm half-blinded by rage and practically unsure of what's going on.

I don't care. I step back as she steps forward, coming in contact with the wall soon enough. My hand reaches for the fireplace, for the iron poker, but I can't find anything. Damn it. My eyes still on Orihime's red ones—I can't seem to look away—my arm goes up above the mantle, and grasps the old katana on the stand. It's old, rusty, and unsharpened, but I hope it'll do the job. Getting in trouble meant nothing.

I just wanted her dead.

"Doing it the hard way? Why don't you just _scream_?" She seemed hesitant, probably thinking I was giving her an idea.

"No," I say firmly. The other people—people next door, outside, whatever. A banshee's scream travels for miles. This is just between us, between me and Inoue. With the speed of a demon, her arms wrap around my waist.

"You've always been a troublemaker," She says, lunging for my neck. I jerk back, the sword in hand shifting. I'm clumsy, though, as I stumble backwards, almost landing in the fireplace. Chuckling darkly, she kneels before me, her breath on my neck, taunting me.

I was terrified.

"My, my, Kuchiki," She says, breaking the skin of my neck, "You're very protective over a dead body. Or is this something _more_, you're fighting for?" The open wound is cold against the air-conditioned villa.

Blood dribbles down my neck, onto the floor. "Something more," I say, trying not to focus on the emotions slowly being released in my bloodstream. Vampire bites can go two ways—nice, happy, and heart-wrenchingly beautiful, or totally painful. The nice, happy kind is what most blood whores or vamp-junkies get. This is the painful kind. The kind that makes you scream out in pain, or beg for death. Yeah, it's that painful, and I'm experiencing it.

Biting my lip, I finally let out a horrible-sounding, breathy, whimper escape my throat. I gasp, my chest heaving up and down as my blood was drained. "Something _way_ more," I continue, moaning when the pain became damn-near unbearable. "Why are you _doing_ this?" I say, almost doubling over. The sword's somewhere on the other side, by the couch, I think.

"Simple, honey," Orihime moves back slightly, her hair falling over her shoulder. Her eyes have become a sick, blood-red color. "I want him. I want Ichigo. Rei says I want Ichigo." Her blood-colored eyes turned even more insane. "So I do."

"Rei?" I gasp. "Who is Rei?"

"Rei's me." She says, and drinks again. "I'm Rei. I was Rei a thousand years ago, before I was Orihime… I love Ichigo, and before then, he used to love me back. But then he met _you_…" She glared softly at me. "S'nothing personal, though. I just want him to see _me_ again. The real me. The me he fell in love with. Sorry."

I'm so tired. My head slumps back and I fall against the floor. She's still drinking my blood. She'll be one of them soon. One of those immortal, undead vampires. Some part of me wants her to stop, for it to go back when we were somewhat friends.

I half scream when a stinging sensation grips my head; not enough to kill her though. The will's there, but I can't find myself to do it. My neck's stiff. God this hurts… Gasping, I cry out in pain. "Orihime," I try to say.

I hear a scream suddenly, wondering if it's mine. It's not. Inoue's pain-filled shrieks resound through the room along with the cruel sound of metal against flesh. Orihime's teeth are off of my neck. "Sweetie?" I hear a far away voice say, "Sweetheart? Oh god… Ichigo! Lesley, get over here!"

"Sis?"

Mimi's face comes into my view, teary-eyed and red faced. Her hair and part of her face is caked in blood. She's stroking my hair. I can see her favorite crescent-moon hairclip, and, maybe I'm imagining things, but I think I smell Byakuya's cologne. "Hey, Baby Girl. Hisana's at Alexandra's. Byakuya's here, too. Just hold on, _please_ hold on." She sniffs, "You were _so_ brave, let me tell you. I would've just run the second I realized…" She trailed away. And then she's yelling. "Get her some help!"

I can feel somebody lifting me up, and then a whisper, like the sun on the coldest winter I've ever experienced.

"Don't go," Is what Ichigo's saying.

* * *

**How's that? I think it's kind of okay.**

**Maybe.**

**I don't know. Just please review!**

**-Alice**


	13. Lips of an Angel

_**Fade**_

**I don't own Bleach, or anything else used in my story. I only own my OC's.**

* * *

**Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. **

**-Alexander Pope**

**Chapter twelve: Lips of an Angel**

The first thing I was aware of was the beeping. The beeping telling me and the doctors my heart was still beating, I was still alive and kicking. Barely, anyway.

The second thing I was aware of was the hand tightly grasping mine.

The third thing I was aware of was Hisana's calm and caring voice telling the owner of the hand to get some sleep. "No," The second, male voice says, "I gotta stay." I could hear Hisana's light chuckle—exasperated and amused.

"Stubborn, just like Isshin. Masaki, too. …Call the nurse if she wakes up, mm'kay?"

I could hear an affirmative grunt. "Yeah… okay."

And then I could feel myself drifting back, into the abyss of unconsciousness.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the sun.

…Hold on, scratch that. It's just Ichigo's hair. "K…Kurosaki?" His name comes out more like a breathy whisper than a real, normal word. "Kurosaki," I try again, and this time, he looks up at me.

"Rukia," He says breathlessly, wrapping his arms around me, hugging me tightly. "My god… I thought… _we_ thought we lost you," He says, "When we found you like that… half-dead, Orihime _killing you_…" He swallowed, his voice becoming strong, chastising, _Ichigo_. "Do _not_ do that again."

"I'm not planning on it," I say, sitting up straight. My voice's muffled by the breathing mask on my face. IVs are sticking out of my arms, almost immobilizing me. "What the hell?" I say, looking myself over.

"Blood loss," Ichigo explains.

"Fuck those doctors," I huff, tearing the breathing mask off. "I don't need this." Ichigo sighs, as if expecting this.

"You were always a fast healer." He smirks at me. "A very fast, very stubborn healer."

I face him, a glare in my eyes. "Okay, no more Mr. Nice Guy," I point at him, "_You_ are going to tell me what you mean by that, and why you look so familiar, _and_ why I get so many weird dreams and déjà vu feelings! Why…" I pause, "Why do I feel like I know you?"

His hand reached up to play with my hair. "Rukia. I adore you for asking that. It's such a careful, gorgeous, sweet question." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "And I know how frustrated, how familiar, how confusing this may be."

"You have no idea," I manage to whisper before he kisses my lips. My eyes close. It's a soft kiss; one that wasn't urgent, or laced with desire, or chaste. It was just a kiss. It was one that made my heart pound and my brain shut down. His lips are barely touching mine, but it's so beautiful I almost cry at the feeling.

He pulls back.

"It's my fault," I say, "It's my fault Senna died. Your blood. Your family. It's my fault Orihime killed her."

His eyes are so soft, I'm wondering if he's really Ichigo. My Ichigo. Mine. He's not my possession, but I'm thinking that. It somehow belongs though, in the back of my mind. "No," He says firmly, "No, Rukia… oh god no. What happened is _not your fault_. It's Orihime Inoue's fault. It's a man named Aizen Sosuke's fault."

"Aizen?" I ask. The name makes my heart shiver in fear. "Who's he? Ichigo… What the hell's going on?"

He's silent. Hesitant. "Promise you won't think I'm crazy?"

"Kurosaki, please. I'm questioning my _own_ sanity."

He takes a deep breath. "We've met… before." Mom's voice rings in my head; _Love is eternal. Love is forever and ever._ "We've met in many places, Rukia. London, Berlin, Edo, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York, Los Angeles, Jerusalem, Tibet, Tahiti, Paris…" He smiles gently. "No matter where I go, you're there. You're always there."

My stupid tongue stubbornly decides to bail out on me, so I can't talk. Instead it comes out something like this: "Ah… I, uh, we… huh?"

His hand covers mine, like the grass covers the ground. "You've never made it this far," He says, almost sadly, "It was a part of our deal. A part of Angel and Zangetsu's deal," His eyes have a faraway look in them. "I'm allowed to be with you. But you won't live through it. You never will."

"Excuse me?" I ask, a little disbelieving. I _can't_ believe him. He's crazy. Everyone I've come in contact with my entire life is insane, I just know it. But somehow I _have_ to believe him, like when parents finally tell their kids Santa Clause doesn't exist.

"You do not live." He says, "Not after we kiss. That's why I was so shocked that day on the plane. I just decided enough was enough, and kissed you."

"So you tried to kill me?"

"No, _no_!" He shakes his head, his fingers tracing my bottom lip. "God no, Rukia. I try to stay _away_ from you. That's why I run. Nobody can be reborn except for you. I…" His throat gets dry, "Have to live forever. Waiting. Nothing, _nothing_ can kill me. And that's the most painful thing ever."

I swallow the lump in my throat, forcing myself to talk. "So… you live forever. And I'm reborn?"

"Yes. You… and Lissa, for some weird reason…" He's quiet, wondering. "I think she and Nick have the same thing going on. Only she's born with her memories."

"Nick?"

"Yes."

My breaths are shaky. "Who else? Who else knows? Who else… you know?"

Ichigo smiles, actually smiles, and kisses my forehead again. "There's… your family. Although it seems Byakuya's more in tune with his past life than your sisters. Mitsuki's done some research of her own, though." He pauses, "Some of your friends. Rangiku and Hisagi, really. Renji doesn't know anything about this."

"Seriously?" My throat closed up.

"Seriously," He says, and I believe him. "And there's… Yoruichi and Urahara." I've never met Urahara, but there _was_ something oddly familiar about hearing his name. "And that's it." He says, looking into my eyes.

"What happened?" I ask. "Why… why is this happening? Who _was_ Orihime Inoue?"

He flinches at the name. Let's the hand that's been stroking my hair fall to the side. "Well, let's work on your second question. Inoue was Rei. Rei was a girl… many, _many_ years ago, that I was engaged to. Before I met you."

"And?" My heart pounded.

"And… well, I met you at an inn in Madrid. You were so fragile-looking, you were actually _human…_" He chuckled. "I'd never seen such a beautiful girl in all my life. I was only eighteen." He's looking in my eyes now, and a spark shoots between us. "We started an affair. You didn't know about Rei, and I had no intention of telling you. You died, unexpectedly, caught in a range war with the vampires. I was so heartbroken… and selfish. I'd do whatever I could to get you back. Rei found out. Killed herself. Been caught in that abyss of bitterness ever since. I went to go see one of my dad's colleague's. My family, my entire family, including me, was immortal. So, anyway, I went to go see Zangetsu."

He's quiet. Waiting.

"Zangetsu… he passed a reincarnation bind over your body. So whenever or _wherever_ you go, you'll always die. And you'll always be reborn. Rukia, technically… you've lived for over a thousand years."

I looked up at him. "Who's Zangetsu? Who's Angel?" Lesley's words rang in my head, _Zan and Angel, too. I promised them they wouldn't have to go through this._

"Zangetsu's an oracle. My dad's friend, like I told you. Angel's one of Mimi's old pals from her days as a nurse in the Civil War. Didn't I tell you? She, Byakuya, and Hisana were… more in tune with their pasts."

"They're reborn with their memories." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Ichigo murmured, smiling, "Yeah, Rukia."

"We don't… I don't…"

"Know me?" Ichigo's smile turned sad. "Yeah—I know that too. You've never _really_ known me. But you always know something special is between us, from the day we meet, to the day you take your final breaths. You knew it when I was a monk in Tibet, you knew it when I traveled so many grueling miles with you because you wanted to be blessed by the Dali Lama, you knew it when we saw one of the first productions of Romeo and Juliet," He chuckled, "I _still_ think it's a stupid play. You knew it when we were in Moscow, when I helped you out of Hisana's harpsichord recital, unnoticed as always." His hand clasped over mine tightened.

"You knew it in London. You knew it our first time in London, so many centuries ago. When all I did was draw and you'd ask, "Why do you do that?" And I'd answer, "Because I want to," And then you'd start so many arguments… and I'd always be the first to end them." His eyes were far away, lost in memory, "You knew it… in Japan. In Karakura Town, remember? The first time. Your first cycle, our second meeting. When you were human—purely, utterly human—and you were able to see ghosts. Hollows. I almost got you killed." He chuckled darkly, "Again and _again_ and _again_…"

Memories washed over me.

_Thanks, girl._

_It's not 'girl'. How cliché can you get? My name is Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki._

_Ah. I see. I'm Ichigo…_

_Ichigo Kurosaki._

I gasped. Mitsuki was the one who came rushing in.

"Rukia!" She pushed Ichigo aside, and he chuckled as she hugged me half to death. "You silly girl! You almost died, you almost…" She hit my arm, "We almost lost you!" She looked me in the eyes. "I can explain everything. Apparently Orihime was schizophrenic, and…"

Ichigo laughed. "It's okay, Mi. She knows. She knows…" His voice got softer as he looked at me. Mitsuki's jaw dropped, and she looked from me to Ichigo.

"And she…?"

"Yes."

"Holy fuck," She says, looking me over, "You're a miracle. That's that."

"No miracle." I finally say. "I'm… I don't know what I am."

"It's not you, honey. It's the War." A new, solemn voice says, and Masaki appears from the window, lithe as a jungle cat. Her temple's bleeding. Mitsuki's mouth makes a small _o_ and she walks up to the older woman, checking the wound. Ichigo's unasked question makes Masaki stop. "It's Gin. He's back. After all this time I thought he actually deemed himself worthy… ouch…" She winced as Mitsuki began cleaning up the blood.

"Don't fidget so much, Masaki! My god, you're just as stubborn as your son, with all the 'I'm fine' crap. You're obviously _not_ fine, so _sit still_! Now, what's this about Gin?" Mitsuki's eyeing Masaki as she pulls her hair back in a ponytail before getting back to the wound. "I can't work this way. Step down, hon."

Masaki obeys, and sits down in a hospital chair. She's looking at the roses and violets on the counter, her eyes nostalgic, trapped in a dream. "Roses, red and passionate," She speaks blankly as Mitsuki cleans her up. "Violets, blue and pure. Two very different individuals, so very alike." She smiles at me and Ichigo, actually smiles, before wincing under my sister's touch.

"Hold _still_," She says, putting white gauze over the scar. It's nothing too bad, just a pink line that'll fade over time, and even if it doesn't, Masaki's hair will easily cover it.

Mitsuki tucks Masaki's strawberry-blond hair back, like she does with me sometimes. "Now, tell me what's going on." When Masaki doesn't respond, Mitsuki tries again. In Italian. "Che cosa sta succedendo con Gin? E la guerra? Dimmi, Masaki." I could pick up bits and pieces, but nothing significant. My _sisters_ were the linguists, not me.

"E 'tornato, Mitsuki. Lui è tornato e questa volta, non credo che possiamo fermarlo." Masaki finally says, grim faced and serious. She's avoiding Ichigo's stony gaze. He's wondering, too. He's wondering what they're saying.

"Gin?"

"_No._ Aizen." That I understood completely. Aizen. Aizen, Aizen,_ Aizen_…

Mitsuki nodded slowly, mumbling to herself; "Okay, okay. That's okay…" It wasn't okay, and her tone only proved it. She dialed slowly on her iPhone, and the words she said into the receiver nearly made my heart stop.

"Yeah? It's Mitsuki. Indietro Aizen. La guerra è cominciata, il trattato è rotto." That I understood. I knew enough Italian to piece that sentence together.

_Aizen is back. The War has begun, the treaty is broken._

* * *

Someone scurries away as Alice steps into view. "I think what's-her-face, Inoue, is dead." She says, nonchalant over her fallen comrade. The white-haired girl pouts, her blue eyes cold. "Why am I here, huh?"

A man with wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and thick-rimmed glasses peers down at her. The once warm chocolate-brown eyes turn cold with contempt and loathing towards this girl, this girl who is just as powerful as Aizen himself. This girl who could've been his queen at one point. This girl who resembled Suki Kunusaki so much it almost hurt.

"You miss her?" The outspoken, rude girl asks, an eyebrow rose questioningly as she picked at a perfectly polished pink fingernail. "Your wife, I mean."

"No," Is his immediate reply, "A mere pawn in a king's game."

"That's stupid." Alice says, shrugging. "You're always so… _stuck_." She looks at him desperately. "I look like her. I look like Suki. I get that much. But _why_ do you treat me like her? You stick up for me around the others when I'm not there, but when I'm in the room, you hate me? And I know you do, it rolls off you in _waves_, honey." She stares at her King, her equal, her _once upon a time_ lover, with angry eyes.

"Go back to your fracción, _Alice_. Cheshire's been looking for you," His eyes are cold like a serpent's, she muses, before scowling and walking off.

"You're such a bastard. You weren't always like this, Sosuke. You _used_ to have a heart. You used to love me like you loved Suki. It only makes me wonder what she'd think of you now. Don't think I'm coming back," The young fairy warns. "I'm making my _own_ army. You can't stop me. I have _just_ as many followers as you do, if not more." She's more callous, more in touch with time than he is, and that frightens his troops, making them take her side slowly, one by one.

She's more in touch with _him_. She can see through _him_, and that frightens him so much he wants to crawl under a rock and think, think, _think_. Think about how different Alice and Suki really are, which isn't very.

He watches, slightly amused, slightly happy, and completely horrified and heartbroken as she leaves his meeting hall, with no intention of looking back.

He smiles a sad, small smile, one that's _almost_ human.

But not really.

* * *

"I don't think it's Aizen we need to worry so much about," Lesley says.

I look up. I'd been released from the hospital earlier today, with only minor cuts. The blood loss had fixed itself up overnight, and I felt as good as new. I'm at Nick's house, which is more like a castle than an actual _house_. Ichigo's next to me, trying to seem nonchalant about the ordeal. I know it's tearing him up inside, though.

Lesley looked at us both. "You can hold hands, you know. Ichigo. Hug her, comfort her, kiss her, do _something_! The girl almost _died_ for Pete's sake! Show a little compassion for your soul mate, why don't you?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

I looked away. "Senna. Where's Senna?"

"Court's morgue," Byakuya says, handing me a cup of tea. He looks as composed as ever, but his hands are shaking. That worries me. He's still in his suit and expensive Italian shoes, so that only makes me feel like a burden.

"…You were at work?"

"Quit that," Mitsuki glares at me.

"Quit what?"

"That. That whole 'I'm not worthy' shit. Stop it. You make me want to slap you when you do that. But I'm not abusive, so I wouldn't." She crosses her legs like a lady, looking down at her Jimmy Choo's. My family was like that. Everyone wears everything expensive, except for me. Byakuya's in the Armani, Mitsuki's always in Jimmy's or stilettos and Hisana should be named the vice president of the Gucci franchise.

"But…"

"No buts," Hisana chastises, looking at me seriously. Ichigo hesitantly puts an arm around my shoulders. Hisana sighs, and looks at Alexandra and Lissa. "What do you mean we shouldn't worry about Aizen?"

"Aizen's always been a little strange, but he _knew_ when to quit," Lissa says, looking out the window, at the forest. "He quit one thousand and ten years ago." She murmured, "What about Ran? Hisagi?"

"They haven't remembered _just_ yet," Byakuya says, sighing, "They would've contacted us."

"True," Nick finally speaks up. I'd forgotten he was here. His legs were crossed casually, and although he was speaking to us all, his eyes were on Lesley. Her own eyes had captured his, like they were the only two people in the world.

God, they really loved each other.

I wonder if that's how Ichigo and I looked like, before all the crap happened.

"We can't do anything right now," Lissa says slowly, "Not when we barely have anything to work on. For now, let's just wait. Even if it was just _only Aizen_," She paused, "We still don't know where the _hell _they are." She gets up slowly from her place at the windowsill, walking hesitantly to Nick's side. She sits on the couch's armrest. She starts playing her iPod, to lighten the mood a little, but it's not really helping. _Home _by Vanessa Carlton is playing softly, making my eyes almost droopy.

Slowly, one by one, everyone leaves, and before the songs even over, Lesley and Nick disappear too, outside, to-god-knows-where.

"Why me?" I ask softly.

He puts his chin above my head, stroking my arms lovingly. "Hmm?"

"Why me?" I repeat. "Why're we… why're we destined for an eternity of _this_? This shitty cycle, this that makes me die? This that makes me live? This that makes me frustrated and confused, and so many other beautiful emotions?" My voice is soft, hesitant, but almost broken, too.

"It's hard to explain," Ichigo says softly, his lips a breath away from mine, "You may… you may… the shock might…"

"Kill me?" I offer, smiling brokenly. "I figured."

He closes his eyes and sighs. "I love you too much for this. And… and even though you may not accept me now, even though you may not get all this, even though you may think your life is completely insane, I know you know it's not, deep in your heart."

His breath was hot, needy, loving, a gentle summer caress on my pale winter cheeks. The pure, warm summer boy to this cold, selfish winter girl. I close my eyes, but it's not my lips he kisses.

He places soft butterfly kisses to my eyelids, my cheeks, and finally my lips. It's like an angel's touch.

…Oh, you get what I mean.

His lips finally do touch mine, gentle and loving and _innocent_, unlike the one on the plane. It's a gentle kiss, hardly there, but it is. My mouth is moving, trying to form words. "I…chi…_go_…" I murmur breathlessly. He presses his soft lips full onto mine.

His hand pressed to the back of my neck, his other hand on my back, he pulls me to him, shuddering, shivering, and gasping light, unnoticeable gasps with every brush of our skin. This is too familiar. His tongue passed my lips almost pleadingly, and I granted entrance automatically. The touch of his tongue was teasing, coaxing, loving… it was all too much.

I probed hesitantly, gently, shyly, into his mouth. He tasted hot, spicy, passionate, loving, gentle… but still so sweet. Like strawberries, almost. I'd have to joke about that later. "I love you too much," He says, pulling away slightly.

And soon we're wrapped up in each other, a heated game we wouldn't be able to pull out of soon, I'm sure.

* * *

"Sugar's bad for you," Hisana says as her sister hurriedly scoops spoonfuls of the sweet crystals into her coffee.

"So is coffee," Mitsuki retorts, "Doc's always said I had horrible cholesterol. All the drinking, coffee, etcetera… my liver's gonna die on me in a year, just watch." She recoils as soon as she takes a hurried sip. "Oh god; burned tongue!"

"Sucks for you," Hisana smiles.

"Barlow and Alexandra's nephew are out, aren't they?" Byakuya asks from the sink. He'd been abnormally quiet, even for Byakuya. His eyes were faraway, somepace lost, someplace not exactly happy, but somewhere safe enough. Hisana eyed him carefully. She'd always been able to read Byakuya better than anyone else, and she could tell something was troubling him.

"Yes." She answered, her violet gaze locking with his gray blue eyes.

"Good," his gaze shifts to the kitchen door, hiding his sister and her lover. "They need some time to think."

The sisters were quiet.

* * *

**Translation:**

**Mitsuki: **_What's happening with Gin? And the war? Tell me, Masaki._

**Masaki: **_He's back, Mitsuki. He's back, and this time… I'm not so sure we can stop it._

**Sorry if the translation is wrong or there're gaps or something; I really suck at foreign languages.**

**Mm'kay, how's that?**

**A bit of a warning; next chapter starts out with something that puts the 'M' in this M-rated fic. NOT a lemon, more like a light lime? Ah, forget it! It could pass as T, what the hell am I talking about?**

**Reviews make me smile. So… **_**please**_**?**

**-TMU**


	14. In My Arms

_**Fade**_

**I don't own Bleach, or anything else used in my story. I only own my OC's.**

**NOTE, PLEASE READ:**

**I've changed it up a little, because I've noticed I'm not getting the character's thoughts enough with just Rukia in first person. It'll be Ichigo/Rukia first person or third person from now on. Here's the key:**

**R=Rukia K.**

**I=Ichigo K.**

**N=Nobody's POV**

**Oh, one more thing. There was supposed to be a lemon here, but I decided against it. It's just not my thing, you know? Sorry!**

* * *

_Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one._

Friedrich Halm

**Chapter 13: In My Arms**

**N:**

Rukia's blood was pumping viciously in her veins as her Ichigo kissed her. It wasn't gentle or needy like before; no, this was pure, carnal, lustful. But underneath all that, there was that undying love for her, evident in his eyes. The eyes she'd fallen in love with a million times over.

"Anyone could come in right now," Her breathy whimper was lost with another kiss. He smirked, nodding gently, knowing full well how prudish she was around others. She'd be embarrassed to no extent if anyone found them like this.

Breaking away from her luscious lips, he took her hand and led her up the stairs, his heart pounding at how foreign the action was. He'd only been used to kissing her—chaste, mournful kisses, that only left his heart breaking. Now that he knew, in this life, that his touch wouldn't kill her, he'd use that privilege. They walked into the room Nick had given Rukia somewhat casually, their hearts thumping erratically.

They were back on each other seconds after the door closed, kissing, groping, touching. To Rukia, the electric shocks were foreign but loving, all the same. He didn't waste any time, either. She knew he wanted her, and he knew she wanted him.

Her legs encircled his hips, her lips meshing against his lovingly. It was so different from how the books and movies made it sound, oh so different.

He pressed her up against the wall, his lips on her neck, sucking and nipping at her pulse.

"My god…" He whispered, looking at her mussed hair, swollen lips, flushed cheeks, and big, blinking blue eyes. "You're gorgeous," He says, before crushing his lips to hers again. "This has never happened before," His voice is wrapped in the most perfect nostalgia. "Nothing like this, ever before." He repeats over and over, their bodies pressed together, he kissing her clothed chest. And then he's taking off her shirt, so she's only in her jeans and bra.

"I fell for you in summer, my lovely summer boy," She whispers gently as he kisses her chest once more. "From summer he is born, my lovely summer boy." She pauses, letting the words sink in. "I'd love to spend a winter with my lovely summer boy… but I'm never warm enough for my lovely summer boy. It's summer when he smiles; I'm laughing like a child…"

"It's the summer of our lives, let's contain it for awhile." He says the next verse, their heated battle still waging.

"He holds the heat… the gentle caress of summer in the palms of his hand."

"I'll… be happy with this summer… If it's all I'll ever have." He whispers the last words, his voice floating around the room, comforting her, warming her. "You used to always say that. You made it up so long ago… in London, eighteen-forty-two," He says hesitantly, "That was the worst cycle. You remembered so much, yet nothing at all," His voice is broken. "That was, by far, the worst goodbye."

"I'm sorry." She says, tears threatening to break through her icy barrier.

"I know you are." He says, kissing her nose. "You're my winter girl, like I'm your summer boy. Summertime, faded by winter. Wintertime, melted by summer. We're so different. That's what they said. But I never believed it."

"Me, neither." Rukia says with a slight laugh, and kisses him sweetly on the lips. She didn't question who 'they' were. She kind of already knew. Her family, his family, their friends, and Inoue. She felt kind of bad, actually.

"I've always loved you." He says sweetly, "Ever since I first saw you at that old inn, with your brother and sisters. I was there with some old friends; you would be staying in town. Remember; please… remember when Rangiku and Hisagi first met you? And how they'd always drag you down to Sakura's place, when they force fed you that ale? You're a really bad drunk, too."

She wanted to wonder if this was all real… if Ichigo was real, if anything that'd happened was real. In this life, he hardly knew her, but in every other time, he loved her. His actions now only proved it. The way her friends and family looked, reacted, and talked about them proved it. He loved her. And she loved him.

When he kissed her lips softly, again, showing a type of passion and love and gentleness she'd never seen in anyone before…she knew he was real. Ichigo was real. Ichigo was hers. And she'd be damned if she ever, _ever_ let him go.

They spent the night doing a dance of romance and passion, one that promised the future, and so many other, beautiful things.

**R:**

I didn't fall asleep. I just stared at Ichigo, and the rise and fall of his chest. The curve of his naked shoulder in the pale moonlight, and how peaceful his face was when he slept. I just lay there, waiting for our actions to sink in, waiting for it to feel wrong. The feeling never came. Only absolute love and bliss. My mind's brought back to so many other times, before tonight, before I was even born.

Moscow.

"_My name's Rukia Kuchiki… It's a pleasure to meet you." The voice speaking was oddly hesitant._

"_Ah. I see. The name's Ichigo Kurosaki. And… it _is_ a pleasure, I must say."_

Quebec.

"_I'm having the strangest sensation… have we…" My former self looked up, confused, heartbroken, into deep hazel eyes. "…Have we met before?"_

"_No." Ichigo says sternly, walking back to the car._

London.

"_My summer boy…" He looks at me, a cocky grin on his face. "Nice title. What's it about?"_

_Instead of making some snarky remark, like I'm known to do, I just smile, taking off my reading glasses. It's not like I need them, but I thought they looked nice. "What do _you_ think?"_

"_I don't know."_

_I smirk. "Then read the damn thing, Ichigo."_

"_Fine, Rukia"_

Sighing, I smile at his gentle face. "I love you so much it hurts," I whisper, kissing his forehead. My lips linger there a bit longer than necessary. "This is so insane. But I… I have no choice but to believe you."

He was right; I _did_ know it was all so true. Deep in my soul, I knew everything about my life… _lives_, I guess.

He stirs, opening his eyes. "Did you sleep?" His yawn cuts him off, and he grins at me.

"Not really," I admit, "I've been thinking… _remembering_." He stares at me languidly for a moment, before blinking and propping himself up on his elbows.

"Remembering what?"

"Moscow. Quebec. …London," I admit, sighing, resting my head against the wall behind the bed. "When I dreamt, I saw myself talking to you about that poem… _My Summer Boy_." I looked up at him. He's smiling gently at me, playing with my hair.

"Ah. I still have that poem, you know," He says, chuckling, "We met, that time, on our way back from Liverpool. You, like always, were traveling with your family, I, with Lesley and Nick." His eyes are faraway, lost somewhere.

"They're lovers, aren't they? Cursed, too?"

"Sort of," Ichigo says, "Not as bad as us. Lesley was already dying when the bind was put on her, so she recalls every memory. Everything. She always finds us, too. On the eve of her nineteenth birthday's when she goes."

"It's March," I say, "That's in a month." My mouth turns dry. "And she knows? She doesn't do anything about it?"

"Of course she does. She tries to make every moment like her last. That's why she's so outgoing. Nick's a hybrid werewolf, if you hadn't noticed already." I hadn't. "Part were, part angel." He smiles, pulling me into his chest.

"What's wrong with him? He's so…"

"Flamboyant?"

"Yeah. If his soul mate's death is nearing, why isn't he… like, I don't know, in mourning?"

Ichigo sighs, sitting up. I follow suit, holding the blankets to my chest. "For a number of reasons. Nick's always been able to look to the future, and not live in the present like I've been known to do. He knows she'll be back someday, so he doesn't make a big deal out of it. He just makes it as good of a new future as he can. He's also trying to hold down his own demise, now. You may have noticed his drinking and smoking habits."

I nodded, urging him to continue.

"Well, he's part angel. Part _fallen_ angel. You can blame his father for that. Most of his powers were transferred to Nick as a baby, just building up until it became so great he could go crazy because of it. So he self medicates with the booze and the Marlboro. He's killing himself either way, so it's a lose-lose situation." His voice lowers, mournfully so, already heartbroken at the loss of a friend.

"Oh my god."

Ichigo nods. "Yeah… is there anything else?" He's trying to change to subject.

"What happened that night? Where'd you and Liss go?" The other night, when Senna died. I never did find out what happened with the explosion.

"One of the Demons sent by Aizen," Ichigo scowled, "Called a Messanger. Kind of like Aizen's sacrificial lamb, to test the enemy's power and control. Of course we won." He added the last part smugly, smirking. "We met up with your siblings right after that."

"Okay. _Any__body_ else?"

"Yeah. Grimmjow," He says, scrunching up his nose. "He's not on our side, but he's not exactly on Aizen's, either. He's sort of neutral. He's been neutral for a while, now."

"Can't say I didn't expect it," I say conversationally, looking up at the ceiling. "Why does Rei hate me?" I knew why; she was jealous. Hell, I'd be jealous too if my fiancé went off and cheated on me with another girl. But how could she be _this bitter_, after all these years? She must've really loved him. "She must've really loved you."

Ichigo sighs, shaking his head. "No, she didn't. She _thought_ she loved me. There's a fine line between unrequited love and obsession. She was obsessed, Rukia. Very obsessed. I loved Rei like a sister, nothing more. I feel sorry for her, even, which is why I apologized to her. I fall in love with you, over and over again. It's a curse and a blessing."

"Rei. Her real name's Rei. So what about Inoue?"

Ichigo shook his head. His eyes were glassy. "Inoue's just a poor, tortured soul Rei took control over. That girl, the girl you came to know as Orihime Inoue, never got a chance to really _live_. Rei took her body, her soul, and controlled her."

"So… Orihime could've been this really nice girl, and if Rei hadn't…" I shook my head, groaning. "My god… now I feel bad."

"S'okay. Look at the brighter side," He says, smiling, "Her soul's free, now that Rei's dead."

"Who killed her, anyhow?"

Ichigo laughed happily, the first real one I'd heard in this time. "Your brother. He took that sword lying by the couch and chopped her head clean off," He smirked. "It was pretty gory. Be happy you were unconscious."

"Ew," I wince. But I was really happy Byakuya did that. It always seemed like he was disappointed in me or something.

"Ew is right. C'mon. It's almost three a.m. Let's go."

"Go where?" I ask as he gets up, pulling his jeans on. I miss his warmth, but get up too. I pull on my tank top and jeans as watches me with growing interest. I snort, "Pervert."

He pouts childishly. "Am not. You're beautiful, Rukia. You'd be insane if you think you could get dressed in front of me without me looking." He paused. "Or jumping you."

I stick my tongue out at him. His muscular body is bathed in moonglow. Blushing, I turn away, back to my jeans' button. I fumble with it a little, still feeling his gaze on me. Finally I get the damned thing secure, and smile prettily. "Let's go."

"Okay." He grins as we walk down the empty, candle-lit hall. "Power must've gone out," He guesses as we keep walking. "It's windy up here." He explains. "They think it'll rain tomorrow."

Rolling my eyes, I say, "God I hope not. I hate rain."

He's silent for a minute. "Yeah, I kind of already knew that, Rukia."

"Oh, right." I say stupidly.

"Hey—lovebirds!"

I yelp, surprised, spinning around.

**I:**

"Hey—lovebirds!"

I'd know that voice anywhere.

Mitsuki's standing by the staircase, grinning like a fool. "You guys are too cute together," Her grin drops a little, "And I can say that now, since she knows the truth." She walks up to us, twirling a French-manicured finger around her sister's ebony locks. "Day and night, you two are." She smiles gently, "So different, but so similar. You're _made_ for each other."

"What're you doing up so late?" I ask, staring at Rukia's sister.

She shrugs. "No reason. I've just been walking around the grounds, y'know, checking stuff out." She pauses, "The explosion last night. It wasn't Rei's doing." Her blue-gray eyes shifted towards the window, staring at the moon. "We think it was Cirucci." She says slowly.

"Cirucci?" Rukia looks at me, then her sister.

"Nobody, she's nobody," I say, "One of Aizen's goons. Don't worry 'bout it."

"Yeah, sweetie. Ishida will take care of it."

"Ishida? Like, Uryu Ishida?"

**R:**

"You know him?" Mitsuki blinks, "Where'd you meet him?"

"Back at Harrington's," I say. "Senn… Senna introduced me to him and Liss," My voice dies down a bit, mourning silently for my jubilant former-roommate. Her death flashes into my mind, the way her head was snapped back, her eyes widening, and then fading. Ichigo's hand grasps mine tightly. Something hits me. "You… you two weren't cousins, were you?"

My lover closed his eyes, a bitter smile on his face. "No. She knew though. She knew what was happening."

My chest tightened. "Senna… didn't deserve this."

"None of us did." Mitsuki says, "We're all just… wrapped up in death, surrounding us, repeating, torturing." She closes her eyes, contemplating something. "We'll take turns on lookout. Bya and I. It's set. Get some rest, you two. You'll need it."

I knew that tone. "Where're we going?"

"I have no clue what Ichigo or Nick will do, but you and Lesley are going up to Cahill tomorrow. She has some relatives there—her cousin and his girlfriend or something. They know _everything_." Doesn't everyone?

"_Cahill_?" I question, "Cahill, as in, the town in Georgia? Population, nonexistent? You're flying us all the way up to the U.S? Why?"

"Safety precautions. It's not just Aizen, sweetie. It's Gin, too. And a man named Kaname Tosen. Not to mention Alice," She grimaces. "And to think; I used to be friends with that bitch."

Ichigo shakes his head. He grabs my hand. "When?"

"Six AM," Mimi answers. "Are you coming?"

"Of course I am. You can handle it up here?"

"No duh," Mitsuki grins, "Just long enough to distract 'em. You'll be fine this time. I promise." She kisses my forehead, and hands me something. "Here, it's yours—was yours. _Is _yours. I don't know, just take it." It was a necklace, an obsidian rose dangling from the silver chain. "It was from Daddy—our _first_ dad. He got it for you as a present, on your eighteenth birthday."

"What was with you guys and jewelry?" I ask, gesturing to the triquetra.

"Hey, a long time ago, not many women could afford _water_." She stared hard at me. "Be grateful, you selfish brat." The word's out of Mitsuki's mouth felt like coming home. Smiling, she hugged me tightly, "I love you, sissy," She said the words like she'd never say them again. With a wink, she left us, and went back to her room.

"Get some sleep. You'll need it for that _long_ flight tomorrow…" Her voice was somewhere far away, somewhere with us, in another time. When she was gone, Ichigo and I headed for the kitchen.

"So, whaddya want? There's a shitload of stuff in here Lesley bought that Nick will probably _never_ touch…"

"Like?"

"Uhm, let's see… salmon roll?"

"I don't eat fish, Ichigo," I remind him.

He scoffs, "Which I totally don't get. You don't eat _real_ fish, but you eat the artificial crab meat and that jacked up stuff. Why do you deny your heritage, Rukia?"

I roll my eyes. "It's the mercury in fish I don't trust. I'd eat it if it didn't have a chemical that made you stupid."

"Hey! _I _like salmon, thank you very much."

I laugh, "My point exactly."

Ichigo grumbles in annoyance, "Whaddya want, then?"

"I feel like pizza," I finally say, smiling widely.

"_Pizza_? You're serious?" He rolls his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Nobody's really going to eat all of Lesley's organic shit anyway." I laughed. "What do you want? Oh, wait; let me guess… pepperoni, extra cheese. Right?"

"Right on the mark," I say, surprised. "How many times have we _had_ pizza together?"

Ichigo's grabbing the phone, dialing the only place that served past midnight. "Every life since it was _made_," He grins like a fool. "Yeah? Hi, can I get—"

I smile as he sits on the countertop, placing the order, trying to imagine us years from now, married, finally. I can see it—perfect, everything so perfect. Two kids—a boy named Itou, a girl named Rika. Maybe a dog named Buttercup or something like that. I can see it, the perfect life we'd always wanted, blurry, barely in my reach.

"I have a question," I say when Ichigo hangs up.

"Another one? I can't really blame you though. Shoot, what is it?"

"Orihime." He winces. "That day in the library. She was attacked. Why would Aizen attack one of his own?"

His brows furrowed. "Maybe it wasn't Aizen." His voice was ominous, almost.

I looked up at him.

**N:**

Her eyes peered up at him, blue meeting amber hesitantly.

"Can you… can you forgive me?"

They were in the living room, watching some cheesy old remake of _Romeo and Juliet_. "Forgive you for what?" He asks, his face buried in her hair. It smells like roses and fresh rain, a natural scent that'd followed her through the centuries, one that was purely and utterly _Rukia_.

"For not believing you. For getting Senna killed. For leaving you with so much heartache, every time." Her voice was low, muffled by his shirt. Smirking, he bent down to kiss her neck.

"There's nothing to forgive," He says blissfully. "It's only natural you wouldn't believe me. _I _hardly believed me. Senna's death was destiny, it was her choice. Nothing could've changed any of that. And the heartache part? Please; it was my own selfishness that put you through this eternal hell."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she smiled slightly, falling into the abyss of warm sleep.

* * *

**How's that? I ask that a lot, don't I? Lolz, so, yeah… you've got a little more insight on Rukia's current life, and next chap, you'll learn a little more about Ichigo and Rukia's **_**very first meeting**_** one thousand years ago! Hope you likey…**

**Please review!**

**-Alice**


	15. Dream of the Dawn

_**Fade**_

**I don't own Bleach, or anything else used in my story. I only own my OC's.**

_Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind._

-A Midsummer Night's Dream-

**Chapter 14: Dream of the Dawn**

**Rukia**

I dreamt, but didn't really dream. You get it? It's that small place in between reality and actuality, where you know where you are, but you aren't there. No, you're in somewhere totally different, totally inconspicuous, somewhere that's ultimately yours.

I was somewhere else.

Somewhere warm, somewhere happy.

_**1038**_

_**Spain**_

"Brother," The words are out of her mouth in some type of half whine, and my eyes roll up at the dreadful sound. "Brother—_please_! I am so weary… we've been riding for _hours_!" My brother's cunning glare fixed on my sister.

"Hush, Hisana," His voice is as smooth as buttermilk. He gives my elder sister a rare smile, one that's always directed to her. He's always had some sort of _fondness_ for Hisana. Mitsuki giggles from the road, patting one of Byakuya's horses. Gemini is what she'd named the beast.

"She's merely tired, Byakuya. I am too," She sighed melodramatically, kissing Gemini's nose, "What I wouldn't give for a nice nap…" She yawned, smiling widely. "There's an inn. I am checking us in," Ever the independent one, Mitsuki struts past Byakuya, and into the old inn, almost tripping over her dress. It looks very nice; like one of the Baskerville's mansions, times ten.

"It's huge," Hisana says, "How could we have missed it?" Her voice is whiny again, and I resist the urge to cover my ears.

"Huh—Rukia! Come," Mitsuki coos at me, ushering me into the inn. "You are helping me," She says commandingly, nodding to the innkeeper. "I'll get lonely. Just sit down while I talk to him." She smiles, and walks up to the man with obvious purpose. "Hello…"

I lean back against the wall in a very unladylike way, one that would normally have Byakuya or my parents scolding me like a ridiculous little child.

"Hello," A young voice says, happy.

I turn to the source; a young woman around my age, long brown hair cascading around her shoulders, big brown eyes wide with mirth. "Hello," I say back politely, at this overly-happy girl. We'd just arrived in this little town, hardly worth knowing, on our way to Father's new villa in Sicily.

"My name's Lesley," She says, the same catty look my sister always has evident on her face, "But some have taken to calling me Lissa." Her voice sounds like she smokes, like Grandfather used to do, but she doesn't reek of the horrible smell like he did.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Rukia Kuchiki." I nod to the young peasant girl. I hear footsteps, and soon, a voice.

"Lesley!" A boy with dirty blond hair walks up to her, winking. He's very flirtatious; I can see that from the beginning. "Who's your friend? Hello, Lissa's new friend," He smiles politely, kissing my hand, "My name is Nicholas, my lady," Another boy, around his age, too, walks up and hits him upside the head. I blink. I've never been around such… _crude_ individuals.

It's a pleasant change.

"Stop flirting, fool." The new man says. He has the most… _unusual _hair in the world; the color of the setting sun. It makes me want to run back to the wagon and retrieve my book; just so I could record this unique individual in my thoughts. His eyes flick upwards towards mine, and they're the most beautiful shade of brown I've ever seen.

"Hello," He says, blinking up at me.

"Hello," I answer back, smiling slightly.

Mitsuki's back before I know it, clutching my arm and dragging me back to the horses. "Come, Rukia, we mustn't tarry!" She casts a sidelong glance at the three others, winking. "You can play with your friends later."

"O-okay," I stumble on the words. "Farewell!" As soon as we're back on the dirt road, retrieving our siblings, Mitsuki pulls me away again.

"Who were those people?" She asks me suddenly, "That girl seemed really nice! And those _boys_…" She winked suggestively.

"N-no, it's not _like that_!" I squeal, and Mitsuki waves me away.

"Sure, honey."

_Sure_.

_**Present day**_

And then there was that one time, in Moscow.

**Moscow, Russia**

**1860**

"You don't like this, do you?" Ichigo's voice is hushed; he'd already been shushed by half the audience that night.

"Not really," I say back, "I _love_ Hisana, I mean, she's my _sister_, but… the harpsichord gets boring after a while." I hate this dress; it's hard to sit in, and listening to my sister and thirty other prodigies play that dreaded instrument makes me want to scream.

"Then let's go; to the Meadow. Nobody's there except the horses."

"We can't just… _leave_," I look at him suspiciously, but eventually nod. "Fine. Okay, I trust you." Part of me wonders how I can trust him. Luckily, we're in the balconies, and I'm able to tell my half-senile grandfather we're just going to the restroom. He won't miss us. Nicholas winks at us, and I hear Lesley whine, _Why can't _we_ sneak off_?

We escape the theatre, and Ichigo asks, "You want to take a horse?"

"Nope," I shake my head, "Let's walk."

"Alright then," He offers me his arm, and I take it graciously. We begin walking.

"I hate this dress," I say, not five minutes later, "It drags. I was the never the one for gowns. I'd much rather dress in my own skin than drag this hundred pound garb around," I roll my eyes. "Or at the very least, my nightgowns. Not this, with so much embroidery!"

Ichigo laughs. "It's fine. You look beautiful, at least. Or… _more_ beautiful than normal."

"You're such a flirt," I say, and he laughs again. "So…" My voice trails away, remembering what my brother had told me, no less than a week ago. "I hear you're leaving soon." He looks at me cautiously, touching my hair.

"My sister… she's in an ailing condition. I could hardly say no." We're at the Meadows. I can, somehow, tell he's lying, but I say nothing.

"I don't think—" I'm cut off by his lips on mine. I moan slightly into the kiss, rising on my tiptoes to revel in the purity, the beauty, the understanding of nothing but our kiss. Something inside me quivers; some part of me that'd been steeling itself for a horrible goodbye.

That's not it.

I gasp into his mouth, and wrench myself away. "Wh-what's this? What's the matter? Ichigo!" He looks so sad, so heartbroken, like he's committed some heinous deed. "Why do I feel…?" I gasp, a memory flooding into my mind. One so pure, so lovely, I swear my heart stops. The last thing I hear before I fade completely is his apologetic voice…

"I'm sorry, I love you."

_I love you, too._

_**Present day**_

The first death I'd fully remembered was the one in Moscow, the one where I'd actually heard something, remembered _something_—what though, I can't decipher.

I'm brought to another memory.

**1530**

**Sicily**

"Summer," I say finally, "You smell of summer." I bury my head in the crook of his shoulder, taking in his lovely scent.

"I would suppose the summertime smells horrid, if you're comparing me to it." Ichigo laughs. We're at Sir Vesalius's wedding, watching as he and his new bride glide around the dance floor, looking lovingly into the other's eyes. Unlike most marriages of royal stature, their union was one of love, and not of status in the world.

"No," I say with a soft laugh, "Ocean breezes, sandy cliffs, petunias—you smell like the summertime," Sighing, I lean back into him discreetly, as to not have Mitsuki cause a scene, embarrassing me to no end with all her questions on my new _mysterious stranger_.

"Rukia. How long are you here for?"

"Six months," I say finally, "Too short a time." I whine slightly, gazing up at him. "You're so… familiar. When I'm around you… I get the most _peculiar_ sensation…" I look down at my hand, at Mother's old sapphire ring. "Have we met before? At Desra Sinclair's, right? I'm right, aren't I?"

He shakes his head slightly, "No, no, I don't… I don't think so." He pauses, "Would you care for a dance?" The hall's finally being filled with people, couples, waltzing to their hearts content.

"I'd love to," I whisper, taking his hand, letting him pull me to the marble floors and lights. I can feel, distractingly so, Rei's eyes as she glares at the back of my head.

I can almost hear her thoughts.

_Get away from him._

_**Present day**_

Sighing, I look up at my Ichigo, my sleeping lover, with loving eyes, before turning back to the movie screen. _Titanic_ was just beginning, when they're all boarding the boat. I can't recall anything from the doomed ship, so I don't think we were there.

Yes… I'd remembered Rei's jealousy, almost every malicious deed she'd ever done to sabotage our relationship.

And then there was one, gracious moment I'd never be able to forget.

**Duleek, Ireland**

**1729**

"Is she going to be okay?" Ichigo's voice was faded and distorted.

"I think so, it'll pass. Just some stomach troubles. Foolish girl shouldn't have eaten so many dates," Connor chuckled, "Is she always so gluttonous?"

Ichigo laughs, too, "Occasionally. She's always loved cucumbers." Well, _that's_ true. Cucumbers, eggs… but I promise myself this; I will _never_ look at another date again! I groan, turning over in the bed. Ichigo's by my side in seconds, holding my hand tightly.

"Hey… don't move so much, you stubborn mule," I'll have to hit him for that later; "You're just coming back from fantasy world."

"Shut up," I whisper.

"Oh," Connor's wife, Shauna says with a chastising tone, "Dear, such a young lady shouldn't be so crass," She smiles down at me, pulling my hair back. "Get some sleep."

"She's right." Ichigo smirks.

I slap his arm, "Idiot, like I care what you say." Looking away, I swallow the lump in my throat. "Thanks…" I mumble.

He holds my hand.

"Don't mention it, midget."

_**Present day**_

"Hey," Ichigo says. I blink up at him. The movie's already half over; when Jack and Rose are in the car doing you-know-what. "What's got you off daydreaming like that?" His voice is thick with sleep, and I can sense an oncoming yawn.

"Nothing much… just… you know." I stumble, finding the right words that can't seem to fit.

"Our time?" There's a smile in his tone. "Like…?"

"Like… Hisana's harpsichord recital in Moscow, when we went to the Meadow," I can see his wince, "That time in Sicily, at Don Vesalius's wedding," I smile, thinking some more, "And that time in Duleek when I got sick from eating those dates. And then… that time at the old inn, when I first met you."

He smiles, holding me close. "You hated the harpsichord. You have in _every_ life." He says with a soft chuckle, "You were close friends with Don's wife, Vera. You got sick because you wanted to out eat me at the Werden's banquet. You lost. Badly, I might add." He chuckled as I hit his arm, much like I had that night.

"Shut it, you strawberry brained dolt."

"And when we first met… you felt the same sudden jolt of electricity I did, that same heart-pounding feeling, the one that made your chest hurt, the one addiction that is…" He smirked down, merely a breath away, "_Insatiable_."

"I'm not addicted to the feeling," I say, "I'm addicted to _you_." I peck his lips, "Two totally different things. So…" I ask the question that'd been bothering me for a while. "Are you… are you sure you want to come tomorrow? I mean…"

"They can handle it," He says, pulling me closer on the couch, so close there's no space left between us.

* * *

"Rukia, is there something wrong?"

_No. There's nothing wrong. Stop asking._

"Oh my!"

_Oh my what? What's happening?_

"What's wrong with Rukia?"

Nothing_ is wrong._

"Rukia?"

_That's my name, don't wear it out._

_A giggle. An echoing giggle._

"Rukia, what's broken?"

_Oops. I don't know, but I heard the crash._

"Rukia, what's wrong?"

"Did you see it, Rukia?"

_Too many voices, too many questions, too little time._

"Rukia, is there something wrong?"

"Hey, hey… are you okay?"

"Hey…who killed poor Rukia?"

_A-ha-ha-ha!_

* * *

_1038_

_Spain_

"Hey… _hey_. Why're you _Rukia_?"

"Excuse me?" I look up at the girl; she's got this long red dress on, and long brown hair. "You're Rei, right? Ichigo's fiancé?"

Rei glares at me, "Yes, yes I am." She steps forward, her petite frame towering over my kneeling form. I look down, at the nameless grave. "Alice used to live here. That's Alice's grave, too." Her eyes soften slightly. "Alice was my friend."

"Oh." I'm at a loss for words. "I—I'm sorry."

"It's okay," She answers like a child would. "But you didn't answer my question. Then again, I already have an answer." She bends down, like she'd like to tell me a secret. Leaning forward, she breaths into my ear; "You're _Rukia_… and that means you're destined to be alone… _forever_."

I jump back, my snowy white dress almost making me fall. "E-excuse me?" I repeat, my voice lost.

"I'm serious," She says, "Why would he love you?" She stares at me, long and hard. "Why would he love a person… why would he love somebody… who doesn't even know _what_ she is, much less why she was _born_?"

My heart stopped as I stared at Rei, the cherry blossoms rustling in the late springtime breeze.

* * *

_Present day_

Once, in ninth grade, I had to write a poem. I didn't know what fueled the words; I just kept on writing without end… just one big thing that'd gotten me an A.

_Listening to your heartbeat_

_I feel my skin prickle and heat_

_Hearing the gentle strum of your guitar,_

_Loving you forever_

_Near or far._

_I crash into that trembling world,_

_Stretching my hand to you._

_Losing myself to the snowy bliss_

_Is this fragile love,_

_Is my breaking heart,_

_Are these crystal tears,_

_a way_

_to say_

_goodbye?_

I stare hard at the blinking cursor, the black and white words sitting there. Saving the poem and closing the laptop, I sigh, putting in my suitcase. I can't help but feel more a part of it, more like myself, falling in love with Ichigo over and _over_ again, crying, trembling, lost in this dark abyss of secrets. I don't know how long it'll take to remember all my lives—all my loves, all my encounters, every me, every time I'd fallen in love with _him_.

Sunlight flows through the bedroom window, and I feel like it's all coming too soon. I'd gotten a text message from Rangiku last night, just one message, that'd made me remember everything about my time with her, coming to my mind like a wave crashing on a sandy shore.

_Remembered._

She'd remembered everything. It'd followed up with a voicemail from Hisagi, saying that they were coming to Georgia. How they knew already, I had no idea.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply.

I wish the night would've last forever. In one hour, I'd be gone, one a plane to Georgia somewhere, watching as my brother and sisters and everyone—as they fought to save me, and, quite possibly, many other things.

"Rukia," It's Nick, "Rukia. Come on—we have to go. Are you packed?"

My voice is hoarse as I say, "Yes."

* * *

"What do you _mean_ you're not coming?" Lesley's voice is desperate, but I don't blame her. She's dying soon. She'll be gone before anyone knows it, and if Nick doesn't come, he won't be there for her. Her brown eyes glisten with tears as he kisses her.

"I mean," He says, smiling gently at her, "I _can't_. You can't expect me to leave them here, do you?"

"N-no, not really, but…"

I cut her off, to save her the words, the oncoming heartbreak. "So… I take it you're not coming either?" I look up at Ichigo, my eyes hopeful. Please say no. Please say _you're coming with me_.

"Yes," He finally chokes, his hands on my shoulder blades. Lesley's crying fully now, her head buried in Nick's chest as she lets out big, heaving breaths. I've never seen her so torn up—or, maybe I have, I just don't remember it. "Forgive me. Wherever I go, they follow. Alice follows. Aizen follows. There are more people out there—friends of Aizen's. If someone doesn't feel right to you, trust your gut. Stay away from them, okay?"

"Okay." My voice is hesitant. Our goodbye isn't as tearful as Lesley and Nick's—but every bit as heartbreaking. "I'll miss you. Wherever you go I go, remember?" I recalled my last words from my time in Tahiti, when his ship wrecked and I'd found him on the beach.

"Yes, I remember." He lets the barest of smiles cross his face. "I love you." He nods up to Christophe and Vasilisa, the Queen's assistants. "Take care of them."

"Of course," Vasilisa says, her eyes kind. The plane's rumbling. "Hurry up. We'll give you some time alone. Three minutes, mm'kay?"

We all nod. Three minutes isn't nearly enough time. Ichigo leans in and kisses my lips. His kiss is careful, though. As soon as my mouth opens, he lets me go, stepping back.

Nick had just broken his kiss and embrace with Lesley. He whispered something in her ear, making her cry harder. I pried her arms away from him, and felt my heart breaking for my friend and for myself.

"Bye," I whisper to them both as we sprint up to the airplane, Lesley half-blind with hysterics.

"Liss—Lissa! Cool it," I say when we take off. "We'll see them soon. Really, really soon. They promised."

"They promised…" She repeated slowly, her voice dreamlike. "They promised they'd come back." She smiled slightly, "Yeah. They did." She leans back into the plush chair of the private jet—her voice calmer.

I stare at my friend as her eyes close carefully—her cheeks flushed and her eyelashes clumped with tears. Blinking my own tears away, I remember Ichigo, and the poem. Our lives.

_Our first life._

"_Really?"_

Hisana smirked at Mitsuki, who was giggling happily. "Yes! Not even a day and she's already making friends." I glare at my sister. She winks at me, and continues to cook. "I hate cooking," She finally groans, "I'm no good at it."

"You don't have the touch, like mother and I. I swear, you and Rukia are the black sheep in this family." Hisana laughs lightly, taking the wooden spoon.

Mitsuki glares softly at Hisana before shaking her head. "Go—go! Go see your friends," She nods to me, grinning widely. I want to respond—but instead I merely sigh and walk out of the room.

"Oi," A male voice calls out.

I turn around, and blink up at the orange-haired man running up. "Good evening," I say briefly. He's the man from before, with that girl. "You… you're that boy I saw earlier, right?"

"Yes," He blinks down at me. "My name's Ichigo Kurosaki. I don't think we've introduced ourselves properly yet. You're Rukia Kuchiki, aren't you?"

"Yes," I smile slightly before I continue walking. He catches up in no time, his long legs matching my walk stride for stride. "You have a very outspoken friend," I say, "Not many talk to an heiress like that." My haughty rich-girl nature comes into play, half hoping to scare him off.

"Heiress?" He looks at me. "Oh, so _you're_ the Kuchiki girl. Yes, my father told me about you. And yes, Lesley can be a little… outspoken, as you say. She's merely… over energetic."

His brown eyes capture mine softly, before I look away, scoffing. I pretend not to notice the pounding of my heart, like a horse's hooves, or the shocking electric feeling running through my body. "I—I see."

He stares at me for a long while. "Hm. Okay, then, farewell, Rukia." My jaw drops as I stare at him. Never, _never_ has a man I'd just met—a man who was a lower class than I, nonetheless, called me by my first name. It's always _Lady Kuchiki_ or _Miss Kuchiki_ or _Princess Rukia_.

As he walks away, I notice something about the feeling.

I like it.

_**Present day**_

"Vasilisa," I say to the young Guardian, "My… my siblings." The words hurt coming out. "You've met them."

"Nice people," She says, draping a blanket over Lissa's sleeping form and handing me one, too. The fabric's soft against my cold fingertips. "What's wrong? Are you missing them already?"

"No… well, yes, of course, but… do you think I could call them when we get to Cahill?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Vasilisa says kindly, before walking off, back to the cockpit. My mind runs around, on autopilot, just thinking about whatever. My mind lands on Chappy, a dog I'd gotten after my parents died. I remembered every detail about my companion. He was a golden retriever, and one of the best dogs in the world. He'd had these big, brown, humanlike eyes that'd just stare into your soul, you know? One day he'd run away, out on the street, right when a car was coming, and—

I shake my head. No. No thinking about that damned incident. Or any other damned incidents. But, like my mind loves to hate me, a memory of my parent's death comes up.

_**Flashback**_

_**Rukia is 14**_

"Mom? Mom, why're you crying?" My voice is thick with sleep, my senses prickling as I sense the overwhelming pain in my mother's heart. I swallow down the scream (I'd learned how to do that just recently) and offer her a smile. I couldn't stay for long—I knew that much. The stench of anxiety, worry, and overwhelming grief consumed me.

"No reason, darling." She said, her voice quivering. "It—it's your grandmother."

"What about Grandma?" I had a feeling this was a _family emergency_. Mitsuki was out at another one of Lili's parties, getting plastered. Byakuya was at the library, and Hisana was at the lake. Dad was in the other room.

"She's… um, she's… honey, you know what Alzheimer's is, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do. It's a disease you get that makes you forget things." I didn't want to remember the full meaning, but yeah, I knew what it was. The gravity of the situation hit me, and I smiled sadly. "Grams has…?"

"Yes," She sniffs again. "I'm sorry. We see her every week. I'm overreacting, aren't I?"

No. I'd act the same way. "No way, you're not overreacting." My mom and I never had an _awesome_ relationship, per say, but we knew when the other needed comfort. More than Dad or any of my siblings could ever know.

And then that pain's back, the overwhelming scream I couldn't hold down. "Mom—" I try to warn her, to tell her to get out of the house, to tell her to just _leave_ and that I'll explain everything later—but as soon as I open my mouth, that shrill, demonic scream echoes past my lips.

For months after that, I was so numb. The police thought it was a random homicide, and that's the story the town accepted. It's the story we stuck to. I myself was weary enough to say it was murder.

Me. I'm the murderer.

I killed my parents.

_**Present day**_

He eyes the sleeping figure down below, watching as her breaths shake uneasily, trapped in a nightmare.

"_No… no, no, no… Ichigo, you idiot…"_

He has to smile at that. Hearing her call him an idiot was like coming home. But home was a long ways away. Very, very faraway, somewhere lost upon the sea. He hears a light tapping on the glass of the window.

Rei's late.

He opens the window, careful not to awaken Rukia.

The fragile body of Orihime Inoue rushes in, out from the cold. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't undo the pain you've caused," He answers truthfully, but not meanly. Ichigo could never really be mad at Rei for anything.

"Do you think there's a chance we…"

"No." He says tersely. "I love _Rukia_. Understand that."

She sighs, gray eyes lost somewhere. "I understand that now, now that I'm in my right mind." She pauses. "Orihime never wanted this. She's always screaming in my head, _stop, stop, stop!_ It gets annoying sometimes. But I know where she's getting. She has a good heart, this Orihime Inoue. A very sweet, untainted girl. I shouldn't have…" _Done this_, is what she wants to say, but she can't utter the words.

"You really hate her don't you?" He gestures to the sleeping figure below him, the fragile wings of an angel's unfurling. His father's divine ancestry didn't pass over him, as it did his sisters. He's not a half-_human_ dhampir, like so many expect, but a half-vampire, half-_fallen_, dhampir.

Orihime reaches out to touch them, but he steps back some, the velveteen feathers arching back. He shakes his head sadly at her, his silent way of saying she had her chance, and the angelic softness isn't reserved for her lips anymore.

She sighs, letting her own divine silhouette encompass her body. "I loved you. I still do. And I _don't_ hate her. Not really." Her pink-tinged wings beat slowly, making a soft drumbeat like noise. She looks down at his sleeping beauty, and he smiles slightly. "I'm just… confused. I've grown a little fond of this soul… this Orihime Inoue. I'll be sad when she finally moves on." She sighs, placing her knees underneath her chin. "So I'm no longer Rei. I am now Inoue Orihime."

"Rei…"

"I'm sorry; I can't answer you if you say that. It's rude to call another by something other than their name, right?" Her eyes shine sweetly, so unlike the malicious, power craving Rei Badica he'd met so long ago. Her smile was bright, happy. "The treaty lasts eighteen days."

"I'll be ready."

"I can't say I'll fight with you, lest I lose control again," She stares out at the moonless, starless sky. "So I'm backing off. I'll see you again, one day soon, after this hell's over. But know… there're more out there. I was looking for _you_. There _are_ some looking for _her_, as well. Some who wouldn't hesitate on killing you."

He nods as she nods, and extends his tanned right hand.  
_Orihime_ extended her pale one, a long, pink scar on the wrist.  
They shook hands.

"I love you." She says.  
"I know you do." He says back, unfazed, expecting this.

She leans up, kissing him on the cheek softly, just a light brush of feathers to skin, almost sisterly. He doesn't miss the underlying tone of romance, the way she wishes his cheek were his lips. "Anything?"

"I love _her_." He looks down at Rukia, who'd rolled over on the bed, trapped between blankets. "Nothing will _ever_ change that. You _can't _make me think otherwise. It's not possible. It was fate we were brought together, and fate makes us meet again and again and again."

"You can't blame me for trying. Goodbye," She says with a soft, barren smile devoid of anything but pure and utter patience and devotion. "Farewell."

"Bye."

And she's off.

A fallen angel, left to land in the abyss of loneliness and betrayals.

* * *

**Okay, epilogue next, and we're done with part 1! Haha, you'll see what I mean.**

**-Alice**


	16. I am so incredibly sorry!

Erm... hi?

Hahaha, I know, it's been a looooooooooong time, huh? Sorry about that. I really am. I'm such a horrible author... :'(

But i have a good reason. I've been trying to improve my writing skills over the past... uhm, how long has it been again? Anyway, I've been rereading a lot of my old stories only to realize... they suck. Big time. Like, seriously, most of them suck AND blow and I'm just trying to figure out why most of you haven't bailed on me yet. Maybe you have. Who knows?

ANYWAY.

I'm deleting some of my stories (the kinds that are past the "Hopefully I can save this thing" stage) and with others, I'm just rewriting. Some I'll be redoing are...

**Fade (Renamed _Radiance_)**

**Echo**

**-Possibly- Bleeding Love and its sequel**

So, yeah, hope you'll forgive me, and keep an eye out for more updates!


	17. All the Right Moves

**Omigod, how long has it been? A while, I know that. But I'm back and better than ever! The series isn't done yet, so here's the final chapter of **_**Fade**_**. Keep an eye out for its sequel, **_**Nightshade**_**.**

**I know I said I'd redo **_**Fade**_** and rename it "Radiance", but I changed my mind, figuring I'd do better with the sequel. I started to rewrite the story, but it was turning into something completely different from the original, so I abandoned it. It'll probably become a totally new series after this one and the **_**Echo **_**trilogy is complete.**

**So, here it is; the epilogue!

* * *

**

**Epilogue: All the Right Moves**

"You're sad."

It wasn't a question.

I looked up at Lesley, my entire demeanor changing. It'd only been a week, and her health was already deteriorating. She was pale, her normally shiny brown hair was limp and dull, and she hadn't eaten in two days. It was only a matter of time, now.

We were sitting on the couch in the guest room, in front of the blank TV. Lissa's cousin Jenna had a very large house, consisting of six bedrooms and four baths. I was surprised a mansion _this large _was even in the _vicinity_ of Cahill.

"You don't look so hot," it was now becoming a sort of ritual greeting between us. A small comfort, a way of saying, _Are you okay _without really voicing the words.

Because that would make it real.

"I know I don't," she said, her dull eyes narrowing. "Have you heard from Rangiku or Hisagi?" Her voice was soft, but her tone was grave. "They should be heading out any day now."

"Hisagi called yesterday when you were sleeping," I explained, "They're going to drop by tomorrow. They're staying at that little inn near town—for surveillance purposes."

"How convenient," Lesley's lips moved into a thin line, showing her impatience. "Don't worry, though. They'll find you a way out. And plus, I couldn't find a better way to spend my final moments." _Except with Nick. _Her eyes said it all.

I moved to put an arm around her shoulders. How horrible must that be, dying without the person you love?

Every time _I _died in that cycle, Ichigo was there, looking on with pain-filled eyes. A sudden thought crossed my mind, and my hand gripped Liss's shoulder tightly. "Hey… Lesley. I have a question."

"Shoot," her voice was almost like it was before, light and playful. Happy.

"Uhm, well…" I played with the hem of my t-shirt before continuing. "Is it possible to die… _before _meeting your soul mate? Like, what if I died before I even _met _Ichigo? Could that happen?"

"Sure it could happen," Lesley said, leaning back against the plush couch. "It's not likely, but yeah, it could happen."

"Does anything… become of it?" I asked hesitantly. I wanted to know what would have happened if I'd died along with Kaien that night in the fire.

"Not really," she purses her lips, "But the whole reincarnation cycle gets thrown out of whack, which could cause _some _repercussions, depending on how premature the death was." She offered a weak smile. "Why? You planning on humanely euthanizing me should the pain become too much?"

"No!" I said, too quickly. "I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," she said playfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever." I stared out at the half-crescent moon. Wondering. Waiting. "What do you think Ichigo and Nick are doing?"

"With all the crap going on at Court?" She snorted. "Looting," she shrugged, rolling her eyes at the stern look I gave her. "Trust me, Rukia. They're fine. They're strong. And while it may hurt not to have them here, they have work to do. They have to keep you safe."

"Why is Nick wasting time on _me_?" I demanded. "He should be here with _you._"

"No, he shouldn't," Lesley said softly. "I'd never forgive him if he wasn't out there, playing the game for you. He'll see me again someday, don't you worry. _You'll _see me again someday. But for now, it's a friendship cut short."

_Friendship cut short. _I hated the way she put it. "I can't just watch you die," I whispered.

"Then don't." She smiled. "April nineteenth, midnight," she sighed. "That's my assigned date. Go out clubbing with Rangiku or something. Then you won't have to see me." She smiled broadly, like it was an everyday thing.

"No, I mean—how can you be so calm? Isn't there a way to stop this?"

"No," Lesley said slowly, her voice reduced to a murmur. "I'm sorry. Obviously, I'm _really sorry_. But it'll only hurt for a second," she said, "And then it'll be okay."

_Would it? _I stared at her, wondering why she was so okay with this.

Her smile widened, like she could guess what I was thinking. I smiled back, but it was careful, like one wrong move could break my friend.

And in a way, it could.

* * *

"_Hey."_

"Hi."

I smiled, speaking into the phone. Lesley was asleep inside, and I knew I should be, too. It was nearly four o'clock in the morning. "I probably shouldn't have called," I said, almost shyly. "Did I wake you up?"

"_Nah," _Renji's voice crackled over the static, _"So. Rangiku and Hisagi mentioned you were in Georgia. Seriously? And you didn't tell me?"_

I laughed, an uneasy feeling settling about me. Why did talking to my best friend feel so… taboo? I tried to shake off the feeling and focus on the conversation. "Well… no. Sorry. Kinda slipped my mind. Things have been… busy. So to speak."

"_I get it,"_ he said laughingly. _"I get it. Well, I'm going to be all alone for a while. Ran and Hisagi are going to Hokkaido. Do you have any idea how lonely I am?"_

"I can imagine," I said dryly, grinning. Half of me wanted to say everything I promised to keep secret—the situation with Ichigo, newfound immortality, and where Hisagi and Rangiku were really headed to. The other half was adamant not to tip anything off, or give anyone any time to question my loyalties.

Instead, I asked how life was.

School. Friends. The people I left behind.

"_It's good," _he said, his voice getting a little clearer, _"Cold, really, but good. Inoue's groupies are so lost without her, it's so funny."_

I winced at Inoue's name, but murmured a "Yeah," in response. "I suppose it would be. Um… I'll call you later. Goodnight."

"_Night, Rukia."_

I clicked off the cell, sliding it into my pocket. One phone call and I was already wondering how my life got so messed up.

I shouldn't have to lie.

_You shouldn't have to fight for your relationships, either, _some part of me whispered, referring to Ichigo. It nagged and nagged, wondering if I was doing the right thing. Wondering if I was doing the _wrong _thing.

_But then again,_ I thought, opening the balcony's sliding glass door, slipping inside the room, Lissa's soft snores making me smile, _Whose to say, who's right and who's wrong?

* * *

_

**Hmm… short, even for an epilogue. Anyways, the sequel will be out sometime in February... if you guys still want me to continue, anyway. Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Preview:**

_**Story: **__Nightshade_

"This is how you party," Nel tells me, her hands up in the air as she grinds to the music, her eyes hazy with alcohol.

"You're wasted," I say quickly, grappling for her arm. "Let's go back. We'll get caught. Dorm security…"

"Screw dorm security," she says, totally ignoring me. She attaches herself to a random stranger, her eyes turning lusty. "Hi," she says, "I'm Nel."

I didn't stick around to see them flirt. I weaved my way through the sweaty crowd of gyrating bodies, making my way to the back of the club. My head was pounding. The music was too loud, and I couldn't even remember why I was here anymore.

I lifted my head to scan the crowd, looking for someone I might know, looking for—

It all happened in slow motion.

He was older than me. Maybe twenty or thirty years my senior, give or take. His hair was wavy blonde, the same shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair none of us ever inherited. I couldn't see his face, but I knew what I'd find if I could.

Kind blue eyes. The same color as mine.

Lightly tanned skin, bronzed by the sun.

The same perfect teeth Byakuya and Mitsuki had.

The same, slightly crooked nose Hisana and I shared.

"Dad?" I called out loud, hardly daring to believe it. My dad was dead. He couldn't be here.

I rushed through the crowd, lunging towards him, pushing people out of my way. "Dad?" My voice was a breathless whisper as I searched the crowds where he'd been.

And just like that, I was all alone.

Again.


End file.
